Disparities in Alcohol Related Health Problems

DISPARITIES IN ALCOHOL-RELATED HEALTH PROBLEMS

Volume 29, Issue 508 February 4, 2008

Matthew Gever

While black, white and Hispanic Americans have similar lifetime rates of problem drinking, the rate of alcohol-related health problems for African-Americans is significantly higher. Seeking to answer why this is, RAND researchers analyzed intake and discharge records from all publicly funded outpatient and residential alcohol treatment recovery programs in Los Angeles County from 1998 to 2000. The resulting report from the RAND Drug Policy Research Center found that black Americans are less likely than whites or Hispanics to complete addiction treatment.

Many of the disparities could be explained by patient characteristics, such as income differentials, and differences in the neighborhoods of the treatment facilities, researchers said. Additionally, the paper suggests that the disparities could be reduced if blacks received more residential (as opposed to outpatient) treatment. Whites were more likely to get residential treatment than were blacks. The graph below represents completion rates among the three ethnic groups examined.

disparities
Source: RAND Drug Policy Research Center, “African Americans Complete Alcohol Treatment at Lower Rates than Whites,” DPRC Insights, Vol. 3, No. 1, 2008. Accessible at http://www.rand.org/multi/dprc/newsletter/2008/01/