RT Journal Article
T1 Gender Differences in the Prevalence of Mental Health, Psychological Distress and Psychotropic Medication Consumption in Spain: A Nationwide Population-Based Study
A1 Maestre Miquel, Clara
A1 López De Andrés, Ana Isabel
A1 Ji, Zichen
A1 Miguel Díez, Javier De
A1 Brocate, Arturo
A1 Sanz Rojo, Sara
A1 López Farre, Antonio José
A1 Carabantes Alarcón, David
A1 Jiménez García, Rodrigo
A1 Zamorano León, José Javier
AB Background: To assess gender differences in the prevalence of self-reported mental disorders, psychological distress and psychotropic drug consumption, and to identify sociodemographic and health-related variables associated with these conditions in the male and female population (aged ≥ 18 years). Methods: A cross-sectional study was carried on 22,141 subjects aged 18 and over, using data from the Spanish National Health Interview Survey 2017. Results: We found an overall prevalence of mental disorders, psychological distress and psychotropic drug consumption of 13.8%, 18.3% and 13.9%, respectively. After multivariable adjustment, women showed significantly increased probabilities of 1.74-fold for mental disorders, 1.26-fold for psychological distress and 1.26-fold for psychotropic drug consumption compared to men. Variables such as gender, age, nationality, marital status, educational level, self-rated health, the presence of different chronic disorders, alcohol consumption and smoking habit were independently associated with mental disorders, psychological distress and psychotropic drug consumption. Several variables showed a differential effect on mental health status and psychotropic drug consumption according to gender. Conclusions: Women suffer from mental disorders, experience psychological distress and consume psychotropic drugs significantly more than men in Spain. Possible explanations for these results may be related to differences in emotional processing, willingness to report diseases and even intrinsic biological traits. Screening for mental health status and psychotropic drug consumption should be considered, particularly in Spanish women, younger adults and individuals who are not married, are obese, have poor self-rated health, suffer from chronic diseases or have a smoking habit.
PB MPDI
SN 1660-4601
YR 2021
FD 2021-06-11
LK https://hdl.handle.net/20.500.14352/6900
UL https://hdl.handle.net/20.500.14352/6900
LA eng
NO Maestre Miquel, C., López De Andrés, A., Ji, Z. et al. «Gender Differences in the Prevalence of Mental Health, Psychological Distress and Psychotropic Medication Consumption in Spain: A Nationwide Population-Based Study». International Journal of Environmental Research and Public Health, vol. 18, n.o 12, junio de 2021, p. 6350. DOI.org (Crossref), https://doi.org/10.3390/ijerph18126350.
DS Docta Complutense
RD 21 dic 2025