Factors involved in seeking care at a specialty service among alcoholic rural French women: A cross-sectional study of rural women

Abstract

Few studies of mental health or substance abuse have focused on rural life. This study aimed to evaluate the association between socio-demographic and clinical characteristics and the probability of rural alcoholic women seeking help on their own at a specialty treatment service. This exploratory study used a cross-sectional design to collect data from alcoholic women upon admission to a French outpatient department. Multiple logistic regression models tested whether the socio-demographic and clinical characteristics of these women predicted the likelihood that they would seek treatment at a specialty service on their own. Among 50 rural alcoholic women, the probability of seeking help on their own at a specialty treatment service was 5.6 times greater (95% CI 1.2-25.7, P=0.03) for participants with a history of physical and/or sexual trauma and 5.1 times greater (95% CI 1.1-24, P=0.03) among women with no complementary health insurance. Increased knowledge of the specific characteristics of rural alcoholic women is needed to develop programs that will increase awareness of and access to specialty treatment services among these women.