title: Gender Comparison in Referrals and Treatment Completion to Residential and Outpatient Alcohol Treatment.
abstract: BACKGROUND
  Residential treatment for alcoholism is associated with high completion rates for clients, yet there appear to be gender disparities in patient referrals and treatment completion rates. We studied whether (A) gender is associated with differential patient placement to outpatient vs. residential treatment facilities and (B) completion rates differ by gender.
  
  
  METHODS
  In this cross-sectional study, we analyzed the admission and discharge data from 185 publicly funded substance abuse treatment facilities across Los Angeles County between 2005 and 2010.
  
  
  RESULTS
  Among the 33,745 studied cases, women were referred to residential treatment facilities less frequently than men (75% vs. 66%). The adjusted results derived from logistic regression models confirmed that females were more likely to be referred to outpatient treatment than to residential treatment facilities (odds ratio [OR]: 1.15, 95% confidence interval [CI]: 1.05-1.26). In addition, we observed that compared to White/Caucasian patients, all other races were associated with more referral to outpatient facilities (ie, less referral to residential facilities), indicating a racial disparity on the top of the observed gender disparity. However, there was no significant link between gender and treatment completion rates (OR: 0.93, 95% CI: 0.86-1.00).
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  Women seem to have treatment completion rates comparable to men, yet they are less likely to be referred to residential treatment facilities. Hence, there still remains a gender disparity in alcoholic patient referrals. Further studies should delineate which specific therapeutic aspects and programmatic components of women-focused treatments are essential to augment positive treatment outcomes.
authors.affiliation: Department of Psychiatry, Charles R. Drew University of Medicine and Science, Los Angeles CA, USA.; Department of Psychiatry, David Geffen School of Medicine, University of California at Los Angeles, Los Angeles, CA, USA.
authors.forename: Shahrzad
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Bazargan-Hejazi
authors.affiliation: Department of Family Medicine, College of Medicine, Charles R. Drew University of Medicine and Science, Los Angeles, CA, USA.
authors.forename: Valory
authors.initials: V
authors.lastname: De Lucia
authors.affiliation: Department of Family Medicine, College of Medicine, Charles R. Drew University of Medicine and Science, Los Angeles, CA, USA.
authors.forename: Deyu
authors.initials: D
authors.lastname: Pan
authors.affiliation: Department of Psychiatry, Paul L. Foster School of Medicine, Texas Tech University Health Sciences Center, Lubbock, TX, USA.
authors.forename: Mona
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Mojtahedzadeh
authors.affiliation: School of Public Health, Boston University, Boston, MA, USA.
authors.forename: Elham
authors.initials: E
authors.lastname: Rahmani
authors.affiliation: University of California at Los Angeles, Los Angeles, CA, USA.
authors.forename: Sinan
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Jabori
authors.affiliation: School of Medicine, University of California at Irvine, Irvine, CA, USA.
authors.forename: Golara
authors.initials: G
authors.lastname: Zahmatkesh
authors.affiliation: Department of Family Medicine, College of Medicine, Charles R. Drew University of Medicine and Science, Los Angeles, CA, USA.
authors.forename: Mohsen
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Bazargan
keywords: alcohol dependence; gender; outpatient treatment; residential treatment; treatment completion