[The course of illness and problems of schizophrenic women and men from the relatives' perspective].

Objectives: Members of HPE, an Austrian self-help organization for the relatives of mentally ill people, were questioned about their opinion with regard to the situation of families with a mentally ill member.

Methods: A questionnaire was sent to the addresses of members of this self-help organisation. 182 respondents reported to care for 132 male and 50 female sufferers diagnosed as having a psychosis from the schizophrenic spectrum replied.

Results: Relatives, who care for male sufferers reported greater distress than those caring for females. Depression and exhaustion are reported significantly more frequently in caregivers of males. Other burdens, for example financial burdens, to assist the sufferer in the household, renunciation of holidays, and the problem of neglect also have a tendency to be more common among those caring for men. These gender differences cannot be accounted for by differences in the course of illness. Our study showed no evidence of gender differences in this regard. Contrary to our expectations women in our study are less compliant with medication and psychosocial treatment.

Conclusions: Despite a better compliance with treatment strategies among men, relatives of males generally experience a greater burden. Our results indicate a greater need for the development of independence strategies for male sufferers and a requirement that professionals support sufferers and carers in this direction.