Prevalence Rate Study of Compulsive Gambling

Just how big a problem is compulsive gambling? What proportion of the population consists of compulsive gamblers?

These are frequently asked questions, especially by policymakers considering legalizing new gambling venues or debating the merits of proposals to provide funding for public education about compulsive gambling or the treatment of compulsive gambling.

Only one national study has attempted to determine the prevalence of compulsive gambling.

It was conducted in 1974 by the University of Michigan's Institute for Social Research for the Commission on the Review of national Policy Toward Gambling.

The study found that 0.77 percent of the American adult population (approximately 1.1 million people) could be considered 'probable compulsive gamblers'.

The study is dated, having been done well before the dramatic expansion of gambling in the 1980s and 1990s. It cannot be regarded as an accurate estimate of the prevalence of compulsive gambling today.

However, since the mid-1980s, number of state surveys have been conducted, typically at the initiative of state lottery boards and gaming commissions.

These surveys are sufficient in number and have been done in such a variety of states and regions that they provide a reliable estimate and picture of the prevalence of compulsive gambling throughout the United States.

In most surveys a distinction is made between 'probable compulsive gamblers' (those who score 5 or higher) and 'problem gamblers' (those who score 3 or 4). However, these two groups are combines and will referred to as 'problem gamblers'.

Some surveys also make a distinction based on people's response to the survey questions for different time frames, such as 'lifetime', 'the past year', or 'the past six months'.

If we take an average of these prevalence rates, we find that about 4.3 percent of the adult population are problem gamblers. In 1995, there were just under 187 million people in the United States age twenty and older.

If the rate of problem gambling is 4.3 percent, that translates into a little over 8 million problem gamblers.

Several important patterns are evident though. Prevalence rates tend to cluster into two groups. In the Midwest/Central region, with comparatively little gambling, prevalence rates tend to be lower than in the other regions.

For example, in 1989, Iowa had had a low prevalence rate (this survey was done two years before riverboat casinos began operating). The other regions (northeast/West/South) Have higher prevalence rates.

Especially noteworthy are Connecticut, with greater accessibility to gambling (an Indian tribal casino), and Louisiana and Mississippi, where riverboat gambling has become widespread in recent years.