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By Joene Hendry
NEW YORK, Mar 15 (Reuters Health) - Women who are alcoholics report significantly more physical and emotional disability than male alcoholics do, according to results of a study. Such women reported greater difficulty performing the tasks of daily living, such as shopping or climbing stairs, compared with men.
The study looked at men and women living with alcoholism who had not yet sought treatment for the condition, as well as other people who were teetotalers, social drinkers, or heavy drinkers who were not alcoholics.
"What we know about alcoholics we know by following those seeking care for their disease," Dr. Kyle L. Grazier, of the University of Michigan in Ann Arbor, told Reuters Health. "These findings are from a general community sampling and show that alcoholism may more seriously affect women's lives than those of male alcoholics," she said.
Grazier and lead investigator Dr. Kathleen Bucholz of Washington University analyzed data from 711 people who had participated in a study in the 1980s. Over a 2-year period, the researchers interviewed the study participants, including 133 people who met the criteria for alcohol abuse and/or dependence, 143 borderline alcoholics and 135 people unaffected by alcohol.
Alcoholics on the whole reported more disability than non-alcoholics, Grazier said. But "female alcoholics reported more disability than the male alcoholics."
Female alcoholics reported more difficulty in activities such as walking over one mile or several blocks or going up one flight of stairs, as well as greater pain and poorer physical health, Grazier noted. Compared with male alcoholics and all borderline and non-alcoholics, women alcoholics "in general reported that their health limited their activities," she added.
Grazier is scheduled to present the findings later this month at the First World Congress on Women and Mental Health in Berlin, Germany.
Grazier also noted more depression and more serious depression in female compared with male alcoholics. Female alcoholics were more likely to report changes in their sleep, appetite, and ability to concentrate that lasted up to 2 weeks at a time, and that these changes caused problems in their family and work relationships.
"Depression significantly affected the daily lives of the female stable alcoholic," Grazier said. She and Bucholz are still analyzing data to determine if similar findings will emerge for women who are borderline alcoholics.
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