Sex differences in the utilization of mental health services: a nation-wide register study

A nation-wide investigation of a cohort of first admissions during the period April 1, 1970 to March 31, 1971 to psychiatric institutions was followed in the Danish Psychiatric Register for a 10 year period. The cohort comprised 5,881 males and 6,856 females with an annual incidence rate of 3.14 males and 3.55 females per 1,000. Males were significantly younger than females and more frequently involuntarily admitted. Males predominated among schizophrenics and addictive disorders, females among neurotics and manic-depressive psychotics. Young males required longer hospital stays and more admissions than young females. The opposite was the case among patients over 65 years. Three outcome groups were delineated and the incidence rate calculated to: the "short term" group comprising 1.64 males and 1.90 females per 1,000, the "long-stay" group comprising 0.22 males and 0.27 females per 1,000 and the "revolving door" group comprising 0.42 males and 0.32 females. Multiple contingency analyses showed that only the outcome "revolving door" was independently associated with the sex of the patients with males being a high risk group.