THE ROLE OF GENDER IN A COMPANY-WIDE EFFORT TO EXPAND AND DESTIGMATIZE MENTAL HEALTH TREATMENT

Abstract

The role of gender in psychiatric disorders is not well understood, but several broad trends are known: while men and women experience psychiatric symptoms at roughly the same rate, women are more likely to experience depressive symptoms (Kessler et al., 1993) and men are more likely to experience substance use disorders (DHHS, 1999). However, women are more likely to use primary care services for mental health care than are men (Wells et al., 1986). Equally controversial and not well understood has been the differential responses to treatment interventions by gender (Kornstein, 1997). One recent study found that a depression intervention was more cost-effective for women than for men (Pyne et al., in press). Indeed, the study found that the intervention was essentially cost and outcome neutral for men, while women were found to have a cost-effectiveness ratio of over $5000 for each QALY saved.

Citation

Lo Sasso, A.T., Lindrooth, R.C. and Lurie, I.Z. (2004), "THE ROLE OF GENDER IN A COMPANY-WIDE EFFORT TO EXPAND AND DESTIGMATIZE MENTAL HEALTH TREATMENT", Marcotte, D.E. and Wilcox, V. (Ed.) The Economics of Gender and Mental Illness (Research in Human Capital and Development, Vol. 15), Emerald Group Publishing Limited, Leeds, pp. 133-154. https://doi.org/10.1016/S0194-3960(04)15008-7