Meredith Harris|Sandra Diminic|Nicola Reavley|Amanda Baxter|Jane Pirkis|Harvey Whiteford
Males’ mental health disadvantage: An estimation of gender-specific changes in service utilisation for mental and substance use disorders in Australia
University of Queensland|Queensland Centre for Mental Health Research|University of Queensland|Queensland Centre for Mental Health Research|University of Melbourne|University of Queensland|Queensland Centre for Mental Health Research|University of Melbourne|University of Queensland|Queensland Centre for Mental Health Research
background concerns low levels service utilisation mental substance use disorders australia especially among males prompted targeted helpseeking stigmareduction initiatives resulting changes service utilisation according gender unknown modelled percentage australian males mental substance use disorder used services year 20062007 20112012 types services used relative females methods twelvemonth prevalence mental substance use disorders stratified gender synthesised existing estimates percentage males females disorders used mental health services year 20062007 20112012 modelled published programme activity data supplemented analyses epidemiological survey data uncertainty analysis quantified effects sampling error assumptions estimates results modelling showed significant increase percentage people mental substance use disorders used services mental health 320 20062007 400 20112012 males 451 20062007 546 20112012 females growth driven largely uptake private specialised services males use services grew 927 females 1154 appeared nonsignificant decrease use general practitioneronly mental health care males 179 significant decrease females 351 however assumptions made modelling general practitioneronly care require validation 20062007 percentage females treated 409 higher males 20112012 366 greater conclusions recently implemented initiatives improved males likelihood service utilisation particularly use specialised mental health services although gender gap may narrowed improving males access services remain policy priority