Problems in accurate medical diagnosis of depression in female patients

Research in women's health has revealed the difficulties female patients experience in their attempts to receive accurate medical diagnoses. Depression may be misdiagnosed in 30-50% of female patients. This difficulty is considerably enhanced when women have physical diseases characterized by symptoms that resemble a major depressive disorder. In addition, medical treatments may induce symptoms that are misdiagnosed as affective distress. Multiple causes contribute to an enhanced likelihood of misdiagnoses in women, including physicians' androcentrically orientated medical training and the two-to-one female-to-male ratio of depression treatment. The adverse consequences of incorrect diagnoses range from unnecessary expenditures of a woman's resources to potentially life-threatening medical conditions. Ironically, medical misdiagnoses of physical conditions may induce depressive reactions in female patients. A woman's age, sexual orientation, menstrual, occupational, and/or parental status represent potential areas of discrimination in diagnostic determinations. Suggestions are offered for improving the accuracy of health care providers' diagnoses in women.