Gender differences in characteristics and service use of public mental health patients with schizophrenia.

The study examined gender differences in sociodemographic, clinical, and mental health service use variables among patients with schizophrenia in a public mental health care system. Data from 1999 to 2000 for 4975 adult patients were analyzed. Women were older and more likely to be married and to have Medicaid insurance and less likely to have a diagnosis of substance abuse than men. More women were living independently, whereas more men resided in assisted living facilities or were homeless. Women were significantly more likely to have had a psychiatric hospitalization than men, which may be related to differential use of services by men and women with the worst level of functioning.