To characterize current treatment practices, we compared the use of atypical antipsychotic drugs among women of childbearing age to men based on electronic medical records of 1073 hospital-based psychiatric outpatients given at least one second-generation antipsychotic drug. One quarter of psychiatric outpatients sampled were prescribed at least one atypical antipsychotic, in more than half of cases for off-label indications. Women were significantly more likely than men to be diagnosed with mood or anxiety disorders than psychotic disorders and to be prescribed quetiapine (60.7 vs. 48.0 %) or aripiprazole (31.2 vs. 23.9 %), but less likely risperidone (15.8 vs. 26.1 %) or ziprasidone (10 vs. 14 %).