 | The 131st Annual Meeting (November 15-19, 2003) of APHA |
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| The 131st Annual Meeting (November 15-19, 2003) of APHA |
Tomás D. Matos, MS1, Rafaela R. Robles, EdD1, Sherry Deren, PhD2, Héctor M. Colón, PhD1, Jonny F. Andia, PhD3, Juan C. Reyes, EdDc1, José M. Calderón, MS1, and Hardeo Sahai, PhD1. (1) Center for Addiction Studies, School of Medicine, Universidad Central del Caribe, PO Box 60327, Bayamón, PR 00960-6032, 787-288-0200, tmatos@uccaribe.edu, (2) National Development and Research Institutes, Inc., 71 West 23 Street, 8 Floor, New York, NY 10010, (3) Center for Drug Use and HIV Research, National Development and Research Institutes, Inc., 71 West 23rd Street, 8th Floor, New York, NY 10010
Introduction: Disparities in utilization of drug treatment services continue to exist between drug-using women and men. Timely data from two cohorts of Puerto Rican drug users residing in two different sociocultural environments provide the opportunity to examine drug treatment utilization among Puerto Rican drug-using (PRDU) women. Methods: This paper reports findings from a quantitative survey at six-month follow-up of 73 PRDU women in Puerto Rico and 189 in New York City. Results: Utilization of drug treatment was higher among PRDU women in New York City than in Puerto Rico (83.6% vs. 46.6%, p<.001). Bivariate analysis for each group showed that health insurance (OR=2.7, p=.008) and income from welfare (OR=2.6, p=.008) were associated with drug treatment utilization among PRDU women in New York City. Depression (OR=7.0, p=.014), homelessness (OR=3.5, p=.019), diagnosis with a chronic health problem (OR=3.6, p<.018), and use of crack cocaine plus injection drugs (OR=4.1, p=.011) were associated with drug treatment utilization among PRDU women in Puerto Rico. In the logistic regression model, only previous drug treatment utilization (OR=9.6, p<.001) was associated with drug treatment utilization in the New York sample. Depression (OR=5.8, p=.047) and previous drug treatment utilization (OR=4.3, p=.031) were associated with drug treatment utilization in the Puerto Rico sample. Discussion: Drug treatment programs in Puerto Rico need to be aware of the high prevalence of depression, other chronic conditions, and use of multiple drugs among drug-using women and address these conditions and behaviors to improve treatment effectiveness and reduce costs to the treatment system.
Learning Objectives:
Keywords: Utilization, Drug Abuse Treatment
Presenting author's disclosure statement:
I do not have any significant financial interest/arrangement or affiliation with any organization/institution whose products or services are being discussed in this session.