TRENDS IN THE TREATMENT OF ALCOHOL-PROBLEMS IN THE US GENERAL-POPULATION, 1979 THROUGH 1990

Objectives. The purpose of this study was to conduct a comprehensive a nalysis of alcohol-treatment service utilization trends in the general population during the 1980s. Methods. Three national surveys of the U S household population (1979, 1984, and 1990) were used for trend anal ysis of treatment utilization. Trends in demographic characteristics o f persons with lifetime treatment rates and particular types Of treatm ent were examined by means of logistic regression analysis, controllin g for alcohol problem severity and other variables. Results. Substanti al increases in the numbers reporting treatment were found. In all sur veys, Alcoholics Anonymous was the treatment used most frequently and its use increased most, especially for women. Men were more likely tha n women (odds ratio [OR] = 2.01, 95% confidence interval [CI] = 1.20, 5.39) and unmarried persons were less likely than married persons (OR = 0.47, 95% CI = 0.29, 0.77) to report treatment over time. Social con sequences carried more predictive power than dependence symptoms. Conc lusions. From a general population perspective, while overall treatmen t capacity has increased, the Structural changes in the publici privat e balance of services have not positively affected the representation of women or other characteristics of the treatment population.