In Brief

• Male treatment admissions outnumbered female admissions by 2.3 to 1

• Men were more likely to enter treatment through the criminal justice system

• When criminal justice admissions were excluded, the relative numbers of admissions for men and women were much closer

Among the 1.5 million admissions for substance abuse treatment in publicly funded facilities in 1998, men outnumbered women by about 2.3 to 1. This may reflect underlying differences in alcohol and drug use rates in the general population.¹ However, it may also reflect differences in how men and women access the limited publicly funded treatment resources available.

The Treatment Episode Data Set (TEDS) collects information on the treatment referral source for people entering substance abuse treatment in the public sector. Referral sources collected in TEDS are defined as follows:

Self- or individual referral—self-referral; family member, friend, or other individual

Substance abuse care provider—provider whose principal objective is treating substance abuse problems

Other health care provider—physician, psychiatrist, or other health care professional; general or psychiatric hospital, mental health program, or nursing home

School/employer—school principal, counselor, or teacher; student assistance program, school system, or educational agency; supervisor, employee counselor or employee assistance program (EAP)

Other community referral—community, religious, or governmental organization/agency providing social services; self-help group

Primary Substance of Abuse
Among adults (persons aged 18 or older), four substance categories accounted for 92 percent of all 1998 admissions to the publicly funded treatment system (Table 1). These were alcohol, heroin/opiates, cocaine, and marijuana/hashish.

Women were more likely than men to be in treatment for "hard" drugs, such as heroin and cocaine, and less likely to be in treatment for alcohol abuse or marijuana use. Approximately 53 percent of men reported alcohol as their primary substance of abuse compared to 40 percent of women. An estimated 10 percent of men reported primary marijuana abuse compared to 7 percent of women.

Women were more likely than men to report primary abuse of cocaine (22 percent of women vs. 14 percent of men), heroin/opiates (20 percent vs. 16 percent), and stimulants (7 percent vs. 4 percent).

Male:Female Ratio
Men entering treatment outnumbered women in all substance categories except tranquilizers/sedatives. However, the relative numbers of male and female admissions varied considerably for different substances of abuse (Figure 1). Overall, there were 2.3 male admissions for every female admission in 1998. For marijuana, there were 3.4 men for every woman, while for tranquilizers/sedatives, the ratio was 0.7:1.

Table 1. Treatment Admissions, by Sex and Primary Substance of Abuse: 1998	Figure 1. Male:Female Admission Ratio, by Primary Substance: 1998
Admissions Aged 18 or Older (%) Primary Substance Male Female Total     No. of admissions 1,025,000 439,000 1,464,000 Alcohol 53.3 39.6 49.1 Heroin/Opiates 15.6 19.5 16.8 Cocaine 14.0 21.8 16.4 Marijuana/Hashish 10.2 7.1 9.3 Stimulants 3.5 7.1 4.6 Tranquilizers/Sedatives 0.3 1.0 0.5 All Other 3.1 3.9 3.3

Treatment Referral Source
Women entered the treatment system through different avenues than did men (Figure 2). For men, the most frequent source of referral to treatment was through the criminal justice system. Some 39 percent of men, compared to 25 percent of women, entered treatment as the result of a judicial process. One third of men and 37 percent of women initiated treatment themselves or were referred to treatment by a family member or friend.

The proportion of referrals through the criminal justice system varied considerably by substance (Figure 3). Higher percentages of people entered treatment for marijuana, stimulants, and alcohol by way of the criminal justice system than for cocaine or heroin.

Figure 2. Treatment Referral Sources,
by Sex: 1998

Figure 3. Criminal Justice Referrals, by Sex and Primary Substance: 1998

Figure 4. Male:Female Ratio, by Criminal Justice Referral and Primary Substance: 1998

Access the latest TEDS reports at:
www.oas.samhsa.gov/dasis.htm

Access the latest TEDS public use files at:
webapp.icpsr.umich.edu/cocoon/SAMHDA-SERIES/00056.xml

End Note
¹Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration (2000). National Household Survey on Drug Abuse. Main findings 1998 (DHHS Publication No. SMA 00-3381). Rockville, MD: Author.

The DASIS Report is published periodically by the Office of Applied Studies, Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration (SAMHSA). All material appearing in this report is in the public domain and may be reproduced or copied without permission from SAMHSA. Additional copies of this report may be downloaded from Other reports from the Office of Applied Studies are also available on-line at the OAS home page:    http://www.oas.samhsa.gov.

This page was last updated on December 31, 2008.