title: Women alcoholics: prevalence estimates and their problems reflected in turn-of-the-century institutional data.
abstract: Prevalence estimates of women alcoholics first appeared in the late nineteenth century; and between 1884 and 1912, data on some 24,200 institutionalized alcoholics produced male-female patient ratios ranging from 3:1 to 9:1. These estimates, however, suffered from some of the same difficulties inherent in modern prevalence figures: "Hidden alcoholism" and a lack of treatment facilities caused the data to under-report women, while patient sex ratios varied by socioeconomic status. These data problems are largely unresolved, and securing reliable prevalence information on women alcoholics remains a frustrating matter for both the social historian and the modern alcohol researcher.
mesh_terms: D000437:Alcoholism / Q000453:epidemiology / Q000266:history*; D005260:Female; D049672:History, 19th Century; D049673:History, 20th Century; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D012737:Sex Factors; D012923:Social Class; D012959:Socioeconomic Factors; D014481:United States