Gender differences in disability in a multiethnic Asian population: The Singapore Mental Health Study

PurposeThe aims of the current study were to examine the gender specific associations between 12-month mood, anxiety and alcohol use disorders with five disability domains – Role, Social, Cognitive, Self-care and Mobility – after controlling for covariates in the multi-ethnic population in Singapore.MethodsThe Singapore Mental Health Study (SMHS) surveyed 6616 adult Singapore Residents with face-to-face interviews from December 2009 to December 2010. The diagnoses of mental disorders were established using the Composite International Diagnostic Interview version 3.0 (CIDI 3.0). Disability was assessed with the World Mental Health (WMH) Surveys version of the WHODAS-II, which assesses disability across 5 domains.ResultsOverall rate of disability was higher among those with mental disorder than those without mental disorder in both men and women. Our study found that women with either 12-month mood or anxiety disorder reported significantly more disability in the Social, Cognitive and Mobility domains than men with these disorders.ConclusionThis highlights the need for gender sensitivity in models of care and treatment for both men and women and emphasizes the importance of tailoring interventions differently for them.