Resumen de Estimados de prevalencia sobre el juego patológico en Puerto Rico

Rachel A. Volberg, Pedro A. Vales

• Legal gambling has proliferated internationally and has become a public health issue because of the association between gambling participation and the prevalence of pathological gambling. this paper summarizes the major findings of a prevalence survey of gambling in Puerto Rico is substantially higher than prevalence rtes in any other jurisdiction where similar surveys have been conducted. Gender, age, marital and employment status, regular participation in continous forms of gambling, starting to gamble ata a young age, and having a parent who had gambling problems were found to be major risk factors for pathological gambling in Puerto Rico. The findings provide a baseline for further study into the relationship between socio-economic status, cultural attitudes toward gambling-related difficulties. The findings also raise questions about the impact of methods of dat collection on identified prevalence rates of pathological gambling.