A study of the gender differences in morbidity among individuals diagnosed with alcohol abuse and/or dependence.

The majority of studies on medical consequences of excessive alcohol consumption have been carried out with male subjects, mostly from clinical or hospitalized samples. The purpose of this report was to study differences in morbidity outcomes of men and women among respondents diagnosed with alcohol abuse and/or dependence. Utilizing data from the 1988 National Health Interview Survey, this study compared several indicators of physical morbidity among male and female respondents meeting the criteria for Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders (DSM-III-R; American Psychiatric Association, 1987) alcohol abuse and/or dependence. The results revealed complex gender differences, not all of which can be explained by differences in sociodemographic characteristics or drinking practices. Moreover, the results indicated that it is inadequate to generalize results based on morbidity data of men with alcohol abuse and/or dependence to their female counterparts or female drinkers. Implications of these findings are discussed.