Gender differences in depressive symptoms and perception of need of mental health services

Abstract

Objective: To identify depressive symptoms profiles among men and women and to understand their relationship with socioeconomic status and perception of mental health services use (MHS) need. Methods: We used data from the 6th Portuguese National Health Survey, with 3,807 participants with mild, moderate or severe depression (Personal Health Questionnaire-8 ≥ 5). We used gender-stratified latent-class analysis to identify subtypes of depressive symptoms. We characterized each latent class by education and income, and perception of need of MHS. Results: Latent classes among men were: “Mood and somatic symptoms” (50.6%), more present among those with secondary education; “Severe depression” (32.9%), more common among those low-educated or with higher education, and within the two poorest income quintiles; “Somatic symptoms” (16.5%), more frequent among the highest income quintile. Perception of need was lower for “Somatic symptoms” (8.1%), and higher for “Severe depression” (42.4%). Latent classes among women were: “Mood and somatic symptoms with low self-esteem” (47.8%), more common among those low-educated; “Somatic symptoms”, more present among those with secondary education; and “Severe depression” (26.9%), more common among those within the highest income quintile. Frequency of perception of need was 11.2% for “Somatic symptoms”, 25.5% for “Mood and somatic symptoms with low selfesteem”, and 43% for “Severe depression” Conclusions: Presentations of depression seem to differ by gender and socioeconomic status. The need perception is generally low, even among those severely depressed, while gendered symptom profiles may impact MHS use. Understanding depression subtypes and their distribution across the population may help reducing the treatment gap.