ArticleInternational journal for equity in health2024
Is the diagnosis and treatment of depression gender-biased? Evidence from a population-based aging cohort in Sweden.
Article in International journal for equity in health, 2024. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 11 papers, 1 of them a synthesis that pooled it.
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Who cites it
11 citing papers in PubMed, 1 synthesis or guideline pooled it.
- Therapeutic Use of Psilocybin in Depression: a Systematic Review of Clinical Evidence.Acta neuropsychiatrica · 2025Pooled it
- Implicit Bias in Large Language Model Diagnosis of Eating Disorders: Experimental Vignette Study.JMIR AI · 2026Article
- Adverse event reporting patterns of selective serotonin reuptake inhibitors (SSRIs): disproportionality analysis using the European spontaneous reporting system.European archives of psychiatry and clinical neuroscience · 2026Article
- Health system use and experience among people with poor mental health: A cross-sectional analysis of the People's Voice Survey in 18 countries.PLoS medicine · 2026Article
- Review
- Gender differences in adolescent anxiolytic, hypnotic and sedative use across 32 European countries: a multilevel analysis of the influence of country-level gender inequality and economic factors.European journal of public health · 2026Article
- A Narrative Review of Men's Mental Health: The Role of Stigma and Gender-Differentiated Socialization.Behavioral sciences (Basel, Switzerland) · 2026Review
- Community Nurses as Gender-Responsive Social Prescribing Facilitators for Women's Psychosocial Health and Well-Being in China: A Qualitative Thematic Study.International journal of women's health · 2026Article
- Sex differences in sepsis outcomes across the lifespan: a population-based cohort study in Germany.Critical care (London, England) · 2025Article
- Gender-biased diagnosis and treatment of depression: considering our blind eye on men's depression.International journal for equity in health · 2025Article
- Sociodemographic predictors of mental health service utilization among young adults with support in daily living in Sweden: a register-based study.BMC psychiatry · 2025Article
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8 authors.
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Abstract
backgroundAs compared to men, older women´s higher rates of depression diagnosis and antidepressant use are widely reported. We aimed to: a) explore whether there is a potential gender bias in the clinical diagnosis of depression and antidepressant prescription in an older population from Stockholm; and 2) analyze if such gender bias differs by patients' age and socioeconomic status.
methodsWe used data from the Swedish National Study on Aging and Care in Kungsholmen, SNAC-K (N = 2,941). We compared gender differences in: (a) clinical diagnosis of depression according to the Swedish National Patient Register (ICD-10 codes F32-F34; F412) ("register-based diagnosis"); (b) SNAC-K-based diagnosis of depression, partially gender-blind, using the Comprehensive Psychopathological Rating Scale (CPRS) and the DSM-IV-TR ("SNAC-K based diagnosis); and (c) antidepressant use (ATC code N06A). To analyze the magnitude of the gender bias in the register-based diagnosis of depression and in antidepressant use, and the role of potential moderating factors, prevalence ratios (PR) were calculated using Poisson regression models. Models were run separately by age and social class.
resultsWomen had a 63% higher probability of having a register-based diagnosis of depression (PR = 1.63[1.23-2.15]) and a 79% higher probability of using antidepressants (PR = 1.79[1.34-2.40]). No gender differences were observed in the SNAC-K-based diagnosis of depression. The gender differences in the register-based diagnosis were narrowed, although remained significant, after considering age, depressive symptoms, and health services use (PR = 1.44[1.10-1.88]), as well as the register-based diagnosis in the case of antidepressant use (PR = 1.31[1.04-1.64]). This gender bias was larger among the younger-old and the most advantaged social class.
conclusionA gender-bias was identified in the diagnosis and treatment of depression in older adults within the Swedish healthcare setting, which could imply that health services may be contributing to the medicalization of women's mental health. Gender-sensitive clinical and public health interventions are essential to reduce gender disparities in mental healthcare, also in old age.
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