Women and minorities representation in alcoholism treatment research

Demographic and clinical information and referral outcome were systematically collected from 347 alcoholics who telephoned to inquire about treatment on alcoholism clinical research protocols over a 1-year period. The ratio of male to female callers was 7:3, with 2:1 scheduling appointments, 3:2 keeping appointments, and 3:2 actually enrolling in a treatment study. These data indicate that although a smaller ratio of female alcoholics initially called for treatment, those who did call were more likely to actually enter treatment than were male callers. A ratio of 2:1 non-minority to minority alcoholics called the clinic, with 7:3 scheduling appointments, 8:1.6 keeping appointments, and 8:1 actually entering the study. These data suggest that minority alcoholics were less likely than non-minority alcoholics to enter treatment protocols. However, discriminant function analysis found income to be a better predictor of entry into treatment than race, age, or gender, and analysis of covariance found non-minorities and minorities did not differ in rate of entry into treatment when income was used as covariate.