gender bias in diagnosis

• the age of diagnosis in female patients is much later than in male patients
• Longenecker et al (2010) reviewed studies of the prevalence of schizophrenia and concluded that since the 1980s men have been diagnosed more often than women
• shows a lack of consistency in the way that men and women are diagnosed, and that there is a lack of reliability in diagnosis
• validity of diagnosis is low as the diagnosis maybe inaccurate
• Cotton et al (2009) suggest that female patients are under-diagnosed as they tend to function better than men, being more likely to work and have good family relationships
• female patients, who may be experiencing the same symptoms as male patients may receive a different diagnosis. This results in a lack of reliability in diagnosis.
• Loring and Powell (1988) asked 290 psychiatrists to read vignettes (written descriptions) of patients’ behaviour. The patients were either identified as male or female; 56% of patients described as ‘males’ were given a diagnosis of schizophrenia, whereas only 20% of ‘females’ were given a diagnosis
• female psychiatrists showed less gender bias than male psychiatrists
• This suggests that the gender bias in diagnosis is more likely to be due to stereotypical views held by the psychiatrist (and not due to differences in the patients’ behaviour) than the gender of the patient
• The variation in the way that males and females are diagnosed suggests low reliability of diagnosis across the genders