Trends and Gender Differences in Mental Disorders in Hospitalized Patients in Thailand

Abstract

Previous studies have shown that gender differences play a substantial role in the influence of mental disorders. This study was designed to investigate gender differences in mental disorders by presenting odd ratio (OR) trends and cumulative effects over a period of 13 years in Thailand. This observational study used hospital data from the Ministry of Public Health on selected patients admitted to inpatient departments in public hospitals with mental disorders, according to ICD-10 cause groups from 2007 to 2019, counting from more than 1,90,000 cases in 2007 to more than 4,00,000 cases in 2019. Data were collected from the Thailand Ministry of Public Health website. The results indicate that compared to women, men were positively related to five mental disorders revealed by the OR and the ratio per 100,000 population (mean and SD): psychoactive alcohol use (OR = 7.31-9.07, 271.19 (59.26)), substance abuse (OR = 5.06-7.82, 59.25 (33.71)), schizophrenia (OR = 1.64-1.93, 108.32 (19.62)), mental retardation (OR = 1.15-1.58, 10.64 (1.88)), and other mental and behavioral disorders (OR = 1.10-1.55, 70.67 (22.75)). Three mental disorders in men were found to be negatively related: neurotic and related disorders (OR=.34-.46, 27.98 (3.26)), mood (affective) disorders (OR = .44-.56, 31.91 (9.59)), and dementia (OR = .78-10.82, 13.75 (2.73)). Gender can become a key biological element that contributes to the dissimilarity of mental illness. Preventive care for men and women should, therefore, be prioritized for health conditions separately. More specifically, screening and detection, and providing appropriate intervention.