Gender differences in psychosocial predictors of self-perceived health status in the elderly: Evidence from a Brazilian community study

ABSTRACT

This article aims to identify the psychosocial factors associated with self-perceived health status in the Brazilian elderly population and to present differences related to gender. The data were collected by questionnaire, including sociodemographic and behavioral questions, and scales for psychological dimensions. Self-perceived health status is related to level of education, physical activity, and self-efficacy in the total population. Regarding gender differences, self-rated health status among men is related to education level and self-efficacy and in women to level of education, physical activity, social support, and self-efficacy. These results can inform future health promotion interventions.     

Gender differences in health promotion behaviors and quality of life among community-dwelling elderly

The differences of basic attributes, health promotion behaviors, and quality of life between elderly males and females in Taiwan were compared. Several scales were used to examine the gender differences and the factors associated with quality of life. Regression analysis revealed that gender, education level, depression level, and healthy diet were key factors influencing the overall quality of life. The education level of females was lower, and their depression level was higher; however, females had healthier diets. With regards to their satisfaction in the quality of life, elderly males scored higher than females in both the physical and psychological domains.     

Gender differences in knowledge and attitudes toward modern and traditional methods of child spacing in Malawi

This paper examines male-female differences in knowledge and attitudes towards traditional and modern methods of child spacing in Malawi, based on the survey on traditional methods of child spacing in Malawi which was conducted in 1988. The results show that most people in Malawi are knowledgeable about both traditional and modern methods of child spacing. In general more men than women report knowledge and practice of traditional methods. For modern methods, however, females are more knowledgeable than males of all the specific methods, with the exception of condoms. The greater knowledge by women of female-based modern contraceptives appears to be a manifestation of the exclusion of males from the family planning program. The high rates of knowledge do not translate into equivalent high rates of utilization for both modern and traditional methods of contraception. The study further demonstrates that, while women are involved in making decisions to use contraception, the proportion of men initiating such decisions is greater than that of women. This finding calls for family planning planners to think seriously about revising their target population to include men.     

Gender differences in environmental behaviors in China

China represents the third largest economy and the highest level of national carbon dioxide emissions when compared to other nations across the globe. Yet, little social science research has focused on the environmentally oriented behaviors of Chinese nationals, key to understanding levels of environmental impact. This study examines, in China, gender differences in environmentally oriented behaviors, environmental knowledge, and general environmental concern. Making use of path analyses, we identify a pattern of gender differences similar to common findings in the West: women demonstrated greater participation in environmental behaviors inside of the home (e.g., recycling), while outside of the home (e.g., environmental organization donations) no gendered patterns were exhibited. However, Chinese women expressed lower levels of concern than men—a finding opposite of most Western studies. Also distinct from other settings, in China, higher levels of knowledge regarding environmental issues did, indeed, translate into pro-environmental behaviors—thereby not exhibiting the knowledge-behavior gap demonstrated elsewhere.     

Gender differences in positive and negative self-assessments of health status in a national epidemiological study of Israeli aged

The literature in subjective health appraisals frequently notes that elderly women, more so than men, generally experience a lower quality of life in all major indicators (physical health status, functional ability, perceived income adequacy, social contacts, psychological distress, and cognitive ability). The current epidemiological study, of 1,352 reporting Israeli subjects between the ages of 75-94, was undertaken in order to obtain reliable estimates of "poor" and "excellent/good" self assessments of health in a national sample of aged; to identify the most significant correlates of "poor" and "excellent/good" assessments; and to ascertain whether the models of "poor" and "good/excellent" subjective health are different for elderly men and women. While it was found that women indeed rate their health as being poorer than men, of greater theoretical interest was the finding that the pattern of variables predicting to "poor" and "good/excellent" health are different for men and women. The findings point to the fact that the simple health self-evaluation question is not a unitary construct, but rather a complex attitudinal measure which yields different structural and conceptual results when controlling for the subjective health outcome ("poor" or "good/excellent") and when analyzing gender-dichotomized models.     

Gender differences in retirement decisions in Hong Kong

The study of labor force participation at older ages and the process of retirement do not have a long tradition in Asia's newly developed societies. This study, based on telephone survey of 950 respondents, examines various socio-economic factors that would influence retirement decision among older workers in Hong Kong. The findings show that older men were more likely to participate in the labor force than older women. Interestingly, older workers, in particular older women, with pension were less likely to retire. Having a working spouse decreased the likelihood of retirement and older workers, in particular older women, living with married children were more likely to retire. Poor health also discourages the propensity to continue working at old age. These findings confirm that retirement entails much more than just a decision to stop work, and that there were gender differences in retirement decision. Finally, several policy challenges, with reference to elderly women, concerning older workers' labor force participation were discussed.     

Gender differences and attitudes towards homosexuality

The aim of this research is two-fold. First, it examined individuals' attitudes towards homosexuals in Singapore. Second, it also investigated whether gender differences in attitudes towards homosexuals exist. Respondents comprised 365 students and data were collected through the use of questionnaires. Results generally suggested that respondents harboured negative attitudes towards homosexuals. The prevalence of such ambivalent attitudes seemed to suggest that respondents were still generally quite conservative in their attitudes towards gender roles and homosexuality. Our findings also revealed that, generally, women reported that they were more comfortable in working closely with male homosexuals while the reverse was true for men. Implications of our findings were discussed.     

Gender differences in body esteem among older adults

Ninety-five adults aged 60-91 completed measures of Body-as-Object Esteem (BOE) (i.e., appearance) and Body-as-Process Esteem (BPE) (i.e., function) to explore gender differences in body esteem among older adults. As hypothesized, a significant age by gender interaction revealed that men become more disparaging of the appearance and function of their bodies in their last decades of life, while women do not. Level of physical disability was negatively correlated with BOE, particularly for disabled women. Furthermore, as is seen across the lifespan, self-esteem is a significant predictor of BOE. Disabled participants who were older than 74 years had disproportionately low BPE scores and similarly poor global self-esteem. Whether working with older adults or studying body esteem in this population, it is vital that both dimensions of body esteem are assessed along with the impact of disability status, gender, self-esteem, and age.     

Gender differences in poverty among single people in Denmark

This study — based on data from the Danish Welfare Survey of 1986, covering 461 single women and 319 single men — showns that single women have a potential higher risk than single men of becoming poor even when the sexes are categorized by household status, age and relationship to the labour market. These results suggest that the most important reason for higher risk of poverty among women than among single men is not — as often supposed — whether women are single, with or without children, but that gender as such discriminates as to poverty via the different ways men and women are linked to the labour market, This would apparently confirm that which, indirectly, was indicated by previous research on poverty.     

Gender differences in substance use and initiation of sexual activity

Even though widespread efforts have focused on educating young adults about HIV and AIDS, many individuals continue to engage in behaviors that place them at risk. These behaviors include frequent experimentation with alcohol and other drugs prior to sex, engaging in sexual activity with different partners, and inconsistent safe sex practices (Butcher et al. 1991). The combination of these risky behaviors causes increased concern about the spread of HIV among those of college age. This study focused on two behaviors by examining the relationship between substance use during adolescence and early initiation of sexual activity in a sample of 950 subjects aged 19–21 in a mid-sized southern city. Results indicate that early use of alcohol and marijuana relates to earlier initiation of sexual activity and subsequent risky sexual behavior among young adults. Also, gender differences were observed for frequent users of marijuana and alcohol with males engaging in riskier sexual practices. Recommendations for interventions are made.     

Gender differences in economic well-being among the elderly of java

With populations aging rapidly in many developing nations, issues of economic dependency among the elderly are of increasing importance. Using data from a 1986 survey of the elderly on Java, Indonesia, I describe gender differences in economic well-being and identify characteristics associated with economic disadvantage. At both the individual and the household level, older women have fewer resources than older men. Even within categories of support (work income and remittances), women have lower levels of well-being. Gender differences in household-level economic well-being are due primarily to differences in household structure and in levels of skills. Gender differences in individual receipts (from all sources) are more complicated, but can be understood more clearly with reference to gender differences in skills levels (literacy, language, job skills), current work status and authority, and domestic authority.     

The political economy of rationing in social health insurance

Due to the rapid progress in medical technology social insurance systems will soon no longer be able to grant health services without limits but must employ non-price rationing devices. This raises the question how these limits will be determined. Here we consider a direct democracy where the size of the social health insurance plan is determined in a popular referendum using simple majority rule. Moreover, two different kinds of rationing are distinguished according to whether additional private purchases of health care are allowed. For both systems we examine the size of the social insurance system in a political equilibrium, and we compare the results in particular with respect to their distributional effects.Funding for this research from the Norwegian Research Council under the Ruhrgas Scholarship Scheme and valuable comments by two anonymous referees are gratefully acknowledged.     

Gender differences in the marriage and cohabitation income premium*

Using data from the 1979 National Longitudinal Survey of Youth, I identify causal effects of marriage and cohabitation on total family income. My goals are to compare men's and women's changes in financial status upon entering unions and to assess the relative contributions of adjustments in own income, income pooling, and changes in family size. Changes in own income that are due to intrahousehold specialization prove to be minor for both men and women relative to the effects of adding another adult's income to the family total. Women gain roughly 55% in needs-adjusted, total family income, regardless of whether they cohabit or marry, whereas men's needs-adjusted income levels remain unchanged when men make these same transitions.     

Gender differences in physical activity and walking among older adults

Older women are generally more sedentary and less active than older men, but little is known about the specific factors underlying the differences between the genders in physical activity (PA). The purpose of this study was to compare men and women regarding their household leisure time PA, walking activity, and personal and environmental factors related to physical activity. Self-administered questionnaires were completed by 276 older adults recruited from senior centers. Findings revealed that women were less active overall but more involved in household activities. The women's personal and environmental factors represented poor conditions for PA, and as a result they engaged in lower levels of PA than men.     

Gender differences in life expectancy free of impairment at older ages

This article uses data from the United Kingdom Medical Research Council Cognitive Function and Ageing study (MRC CFAS) to analyze morbidity associated with three areas of impairment. We use cognitive status, functional status, and physical illness to examine differences in the proportion of time that older women and men will spend with co-morbidity. We also analyze differences among various impairments, and investigate the relationship between missing data and sex. Women have a larger burden of impairment than men, and, by including cognitive impairment together with functional impairment, a very large impairment burden is highlighted at all ages. Policy implications of the findings from the perspective of older women in the United Kingdom are discussed.     

Gender differences in caregiving: a case in Chinese Canadian caregivers

This study examines the gender differences in Chinese- Canadian family caregivers providing care to elderly Chinese care receivers. A random sample of 339 Chinese-Canadian caregivers for elderly care receivers completed a telephone survey. Most of the Chinese family caregivers were females. No major gender differences were reported in the amount and types of caregiving tasks. The level of caregiving burden and predictors were generally similar for both gender groups. Contrary to common belief that sons and daughters-in-law are the key family caregivers in the Chinese culture, the daughters played a more important role in family caregiving. In addition to providing support and services to Chinese female caregivers, strategies to enhance Chinese males' involvement in family caregiving are needed and discussed in the paper.     

Gender differences in relating life events and well-being in elderly individuals

Two hundred and sixty-eight community-residing elderly participants completed measures of physical illness, psychiatric symptomatology, life satisfaction, and recent mood, and a modified version of the Rahe (1975) Recent Life Change Questionnaire on which they indicated how much adjustment each event experienced required and whether it was appraised as expected or unexpected, desirable or undesirable, and controllable or uncontrollable. The results suggest that: (1) scores that reflect how events were appraised accounted for more variance than total frequency scores; (2) optimal predictors differed for different outcome measures; and (3) there are substantial gender differences in the pattern of relationships of predictor to outcome variables. The first two findings are consistent with those reported for younger cohorts. The third finding has not been reported previously.     

Gender differences in factors that influence time spent planning for retirement

Retirement research has shown that planning activities are influenced by a variety of demographic and psychological variables. However, few investigations have focused on how demographic and psychological factors influence the time and effort men and women allocate to retirement preparation. In the present study, 184 individuals completed a survey designed to assess future time perspective (FTP), worry about retirement, age, and income level. Hierarchical regression techniques were used to examine how these variables influenced the amount of time men and women spent planning for and thinking about retirement. Results revealed that women spent less time thinking about retirement than men, and gender was differentially related to the factors predictive of this activity. From an applied perspective, these findings suggest that separate retirement intervention programs are warranted that meet the unique needs of working men and women.     

Gender differences in inappropriate use of urinary catheters among hospitalized older patients

This study investigated the incidence, rationales, and associated factors of inappropriate urinary catheter use among hospitalized older patients by gender. A longitudinal study of 321 patients with urinary catheter was conducted. Demographic factors, present health factors, urinary catheter factors, and indications of catheter use were collected. A total of 53.7% of urinary catheter-days were inappropriate. For both men and women, there was no significant difference in the incidence and common rationales of inappropriate use. Women, however, have another associated factor with inappropriate use. More tailored alternatives are needed for women to increase comfort to avoid inappropriate catheter use.