Males' mental health disadvantage: An estimation of gender-specific changes in service utilisation for mental and substance use disorders in Australia

Abstract

BACKGROUND: Concerns about low levels of service utilisation for mental and substance use disorders in Australia - especially among males - have prompted targeted help-seeking and stigma-reduction initiatives. Resulting changes in service utilisation according to gender are unknown. We modelled the percentage of Australian males with a mental or substance use disorder who used services each year between 2006-2007 and 2011-2012, and the types of services they used, relative to females. METHODS: Twelve-month prevalence of mental and substance use disorders, stratified by gender, was synthesised from existing estimates. The percentage of males and females with these disorders who used mental he..