Gender effects on outcomes of psychosomatic rehabilitation are reduced

OBJECTIVE: The study examined whether psychiatric/psychosomatic rehabilitation continues to have a better course of treatment for women than men. METHODS: We compared the course of global symptom severity, health-related quality of life and functioning between admission and discharge in patients (848 men, 1412 women) at an Austrian psychiatric/psychosomatic rehabilitation clinic. RESULTS: Gender-specific differences in the course of treatment were all too small to be clinically relevant. The differences were smallest in the middle-aged cohort. However, at the time of admission, women reported a slightly higher symptom burden. CONCLUSION: Overall, the results show a gender-fair effectiveness of the rehabilitation. The new findings could be explained by changes in living conditions, gender roles, or better treatment methods.