Dear all,

Below are abstracts from France on Women and addiction; the full text of the journal in French is attached.

Thanks to Maxime Journiak from EATG for sharing the document.

Best, Raminta

 

French Weekly Epidemiological Journal (Bulletin épidémiologique hebdomadaire)

Special issue - Women and addiction

10 mars 2009 / n° 10-11

 

Women and addiction in the international literature: sex, gender and risks

Laurence Simmat-Durand ( This e-mail address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it )
Université Paris Descartes, Cesames, Centre de recherches « Psychotropes, santé mentale, société » (CNRS UMR8136, Inserm U611), Paris, France

Abstract
The international literature on women and addictions is constituted by publications relating to sex, i.e. physiological differences on the effects of the use of psychoactive products on men or women, or publications on gender differences, i.e. on the social roles attributed to one gender or the other. Sex differences, consist mainly in physiological variations, such as corporal fluid volume, which causes a different impact of the substances on the metabolism, and also distinctions related to mental health. Gender differences reveal a stronger affective dependence among women, a greater impact of negative events from childhood as the origin of addictions and differences in accessing and using treatments. Risk-taking in addictive behaviours is also described as being more important in women than in men. Finally, two specific female problems are emphasised: prostitution and maternity, because these themes are recurrent in the literature reviewed.

Gender issue in the analysis of addictive behaviours observed in the Baromètre santé study, France, 2005

François Beck1,2 ( This e-mail address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it ), Stéphane Legleye3,4, Florence Maillochon5, Gaël de Peretti6
1 / Institut national de prévention et d’éducation pour la santé (Inpes), Saint-Denis, France 2 / Université Paris Descartes, Cesames, Centre de recherches « Psychotropes, santé mentale, société » (CNRS UMR8136, Inserm U611), Paris, France 3 / Observatoire français des drogues et des toxicomanies (OFDT), Saint-Denis, France 4 / Inserm U669, Université Paris XI, France 5 / CNRS UMR 8097, Centre Maurice Halbwachs, Paris, France 6 / Institut national de la statistique et des études économiques (Insee), Paris, France

Abstract
Objectives – Assess the influence of gender on the use of psychoactive substances among adults in France depending on the level of education, and employment, occupational, and social status.
Method – The present study (Baromètre santé) is a national representative telephone survey conducted in 2005 (two stages sample, household and individuals, mobile phones included) among 12-75-years-old. It focuses on 24,674 subjects aged 18-64 years. The data were analyzed using logistic regression adjusted on age and three social status indicators.
Results – Psychoactive substances use is more prevalent in men. For both sexes, over-consumption of tobacco is related to unemployment. Alcohol consumption and drunkenness are more common among unemployed men but not among women, in whom along with cannabis, they are more frequent among senior executives than among unskilled workers, which is not the case for men. Similar results are observed about the level of education, which is linked to a greater level of alcohol and cannabis use among women, but lower among men. Therefore, the gap between genders narrows as the social status increases, whatever the indicator used.
Conclusion – Men generally consume more drugs than women, but the extent of differences varies depending on the social environment: when they have more favorable occupations, men tend to adopt more reasonable behaviours, whereas women’s behaviours tend to compare with men’s behaviours.

 

Gender and social characteristics of drug users during adolescence, France, 2000-2005

Stéphane Legleye ( This e-mail address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it )1, 2, 3, François Beck4, 5, 6, Stanislas Spilka1, Olivier Le Nézet1
1/ Observatoire français des drogues et des toxicomanies (OFDT), Saint-Denis La Plaine, France 2/ Inserm U669, Paris, France 3/ Université Paris-Sud et Paris Descartes, UMR-S0669, Paris, France 4/ Institut national de prévention et d’éducation pour la santé (Inpes), Saint-Denis, France 5/ Université Paris Descartes, Cesames, Centre de recherches « Psychotropes, santé mentale, société » (CNRS UMR8136, Inserm U611), Paris, France 6/ Inserm U611, Paris, France.

Abstract
Introduction – Recent general population surveys among adults suggest that the link between social status (being employed, unemployed or being a student) and legal and illegal uses of psychoactive substances varies with gender. This article presents similar analyses among adolescents aged 17, focusing on their educational situation.
Material and methods – A national representative cross-sectional survey among French adolescents aged 17, carried out regularly between 2000 and 2005 contributed to measure the trends of the main types of use of psychoactive substances by sex, and to highlight their social characteristics.
Results – Daily tobacco smoking decreased, regular alcohol consumption remained stable, but acute alcoholism increased, as well as most experiences with illicit substances, which showed a tendency towards feminization, more marked for crack and amphetamines. Moreover, gender disparities for drug uses appeared lower, and more feminine in nature, among students attending secondary and high schools than among those attending vocational schools or school-dropouts.
Conclusion – Consumption of psychoactive substances is variable depending on the youths’ family background and their educational situation. However, the gender gap varies mostly depending on their educational situation, being less prominent in regular schools than in vocational schools or school-dropouts.

 

Women drug users and practices at risk of transmission of HIV and hepatitis. Complementary epidemiological and socio-anthropological approaches, Coquelicot Survey 2004-2007, France

Marie Jauffret-Roustide1, 2 ( This e-mail address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it ), Lila Oudaya1, Marc Rondy 2, Yann Le Strat1, Elisabeth Couturier1, Chantal Mougin2, Julien Emmanuelli1, Jean-Claude Desenclos1
1/ Institut de veille sanitaire, Saint-Maurice, France 2/ Université Paris Descartes, Cesames, Centre de recherches « Psychotropes, santé mentale, société » (CNRS UMR8136, Inserm U611), Paris, France

Abstract
Context – In France, women who use drugs are essentially studied in terms of pregnancy and consequences of drug use on the unborn child. Few French studies attempted to study the profiles and the practices of the women DUs. Between 2004 and 2007, the Coquelicot Study, allowed to describe the profile of these women, risk practices towards HIV, HBV and HCV linked to drug use, and understand the context of risk-practices, taking into account the sexual dimension.
Method – A cross-sectional epidemiological survey was performed among 1,462 DUs who injected or snorted drugs at least once in their life in five cities (Lille, Strasbourg, Paris, Bordeaux, Marseilles). Complementary socioanthropological research was conducted among 99 DUs.
Results – Women consume more crack/free-base, morphine sulfates and solvents than men and report globally more at-risk practices. Interviews highlight the central place of the sexual partner during the initiation of drug use, and during the path of consumption of women. The protective strategies toward HIV and hepatitis are differentiated according to type of sharing partners.
Discussion-Conclusion – The prevention of at-risk practices among female DUs should go beyond a simple individual approach, by integrating the couple dimension, and more generally the social dimension of relationships between men and women.

 

What women say about alcohol abstinence during pregnancy in France

Stéphanie Toutain ( This e-mail address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it )
Université Paris Descartes, Cesames, Centre de recherches « Psychotropes, santé mentale, société » (CNRS UMR8136, Inserm U611), Paris, France

Abstract
Introduction – Prenatal exposure to alcohol may be responsible for a series of malformations and dysmorphic disorders, as well as dysfunctions in the foetuses’ development. These can be as severe as fetal alcohol syndrome (FAS) or in their less severe form as fetal alcohol spectrum disorders (FASD). In spite of the implementation of a prevention policy on the dangers of alcohol consumption during pregnancy, many pregnant women continue to consume alcohol. It was therefore important to review the state of knowledge and opinions of the pregnant women concerned to understand how they consider the risks of alcohol consumption during pregnancy, and their perception of messages intended to them.
Method – A qualitative approach based on discussions with forty-two pregnant women, exchanging on three Internet chat groups during 2007 was used to answer questions of interest for our study.
Results – The recommendation for total abstinence is poorly understood by women, who know little about the consequences of alcohol consumption on unborn children. Finally, the sources of information of these women about the consumption of alcohol during pregnancy are varied, but their mothers remain their most credible source.

Feasability of fetal alcohol syndrome surveillance, France, 2006-2008

Juliette Bloch ( This e-mail address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it )1, Christine Cans2, Catherine De Vigan3, Ludivine de Brosses4, Bérénice Doray5, Béatrice Larroque6, Isabelle Perthus7
1/ Institut de veille sanitaire, Saint-Maurice, France 2/ Registre des handicaps de l’enfant et observatoire périnatal (Rheop), Centre hospitalier universitaire, Grenoble, France 3/ Inserm, UMR S149, IFR 69, Paris, France 4/ Registre des malformations en Rhône-Alpes, Faculté de médecine Laennec, Lyon, France 5/ Registre des malformations congénitales d’Alsace, Faculté de médecine, Strasbourg, France 6/ Inserm U149, IFR69, Université Pierre et Marie Curie-Paris 6, Paris, France 7/ Centre d’études des malformations congénitales en Auvergne, Chamalières, France

Abstract
A feasibility study on the surveillance of fetal alcohol syndrome (FAS) at birth was set up in the French regions and districts covered by registries of congenital malformations or child disabilities for two years. Cases were included if they presented with an intrauterine growth delay related to the weight, size or head circumference, and dysmorphic features of the FAS. Alcohol consumption was searched using a dietary questionnaire. A total of 34 cases was included, of whom 21 were classified as FAS at birth, but only 12 cases were considered as confirmed FAS through a ninemonth follow-up. All confirmed cases were included in the Alsace and Rhône districts. The prevalence rates calculated varied from one district, as well as from one study year to the other, suggesting significant underreporting, which is very operator-dependent.

Raminta Stuikyte

EHRN | This e-mail address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it | www.harm-reduction.org

NGO in Special Status with Economic and Social Council of the United Nations (ECOSOC)

 

From: This e-mail address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it [mailto: This e-mail address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it ] On Behalf Of Maxime JOURNIAC
Sent: Tuesday, April 14, 2009 6:21 PM
To: EATG
Subject: [MEMBERS] TR : [assotrt-5_l] ART - BEH 2009 n°10-11 > women and addiction

 

Dear all,

 

Here is a thematic issue from the INVS (French National Institute of Sanitary Surveillance) on women and addiction and on HIV and Hepatitis transmission, with summary in English.

Best

 

Maxime

 

-----Message d'origine-----
De : François Berdougo-Le Blanc [mailto: This e-mail address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it ]
Envoyé : mardi 14 avril 2009 15:21
À : TRT-5 Interne; TRT5 Asso; women-TRT5
Objet : [assotrt-5_l] ART - BEH 2009 n°10-11 > Femmes et addictions

 

Bonjour,

 

Encore un numéro thématique, avec un article sur les femmes UD et à risque de transmission du VIH et des hépatites > résultats de l'enquête COQUELICOT 2004-2007.

 

Disponible ici : http://www.invs.sante.fr/beh/2009/10_11/beh_10_11_2009.pdf

 

François

 

Début du message réexpédié :

 

De : This e-mail address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it

Date : 10 mars 2009 09:55:07 HNEC

À : This e-mail address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it

Objet : BEH 2009 n°10-11