Drug-Dependent Women: Demographic and Clinical Characteristics in a Brazilian Sample

This study compared baseline demographics, clinical characteristics & patterns of substance use of 99 substance misusing women seeking treatment in a Brazilian hospital who had been diagnosed with drug dependence (73.7% were cocaine dependent)against 162 women diagnosed with alcohol dependence. Drug dependent women, at entry, were younger, with a higher education level, single or lived alone, & had a job outside home more often than alcoholics. They sought treatment mainly by self-initiative & reported more past suicide attempts than their alcoholic counterparts. They began drug use at the same age but increased use, & sought treatment, earlier. Alcoholics had more psychiatric comorbidity. There is heterogeneity among chemically-dependent Brazilian women. (23 refs.)