What about the men? Gender differences in utilisation of arthritis self-management services

Abstract

As self-management programs for chronic illness increasingly become the domain of primary health care providers, it is important to consider gender inequities in access to these services and gender differences in patterns of use to inform the development and delivery of services. This study explores gender differences in levels and patterns of access to arthritis self-management services by analyzing data collected from the Telephone Information Service of Arthritis Victoria. Contingency tables were analyzed and odds-ratios calculated to confirm gender differences in levels and patterns of service utilisation. Men were found to be significantly under-represented as users of the service, even..