Gender Differences in the Economic Impacts of Clients Before, During and After Substance Abuse Treatment

SUMMARY

Gender differences in substance abuse treatment have been a topic of increasing importance for over 10 years. This study analyzes the publicly-supported California treatment system using a representative sample of 1825 clients from five modalities. An economic framework is used to compare outcomes of women and men, concluding that: (1) on average, treatment of women is strongly cost-beneficial, but (2) cost-benefit ratios are materially lower among women compared with men in some modalities. In the year before treatment, women imposed less economic burden than men, mostly due to less criminal involvement. Women were somewhat more likely to be seen in outpatient settings than in 24 hour care settings (residential and social model programs) and had significantly longer lengths of stay in non-methadone outpatient treatment but only modestly different lengths of stay in other types of treatment. Economic savings from the treatment of men and women are four to twelve times greater than the cost of treatment, depending on the type of treatment setting studied. However, savings from treatment are estimated to be 4.3 times the cost of treatment for women, and 9.3 times the cost of treatment for men. Moreover, total savings during treatment and in the year following treatment exceeded costs for both men and women regardless of the treatment setting.