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Self-perceived general health among community-dwelling Portuguese older adults: do men and women differ?

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  21 July 2020

Violeta Alarcão*
Affiliation:
Instituto de Medicina Preventiva e Saúde Pública, Faculdade de Medicina, Universidade de Lisboa, Lisbon, Portugal Instituto de Saúde Ambiental, Faculdade de Medicina, Universidade de Lisboa, Lisbon, Portugal Centro de Investigação e Estudos de Sociologia (CIES-IUL), Instituto Universitário de Lisboa (ISCTE-IUL), Lisbon, Portugal
Joana Costa
Affiliation:
Instituto de Saúde Ambiental, Faculdade de Medicina, Universidade de Lisboa, Lisbon, Portugal
Teresa Madeira
Affiliation:
Instituto de Medicina Preventiva e Saúde Pública, Faculdade de Medicina, Universidade de Lisboa, Lisbon, Portugal Instituto de Saúde Ambiental, Faculdade de Medicina, Universidade de Lisboa, Lisbon, Portugal
Catarina Peixoto-Plácido
Affiliation:
Instituto de Medicina Preventiva e Saúde Pública, Faculdade de Medicina, Universidade de Lisboa, Lisbon, Portugal Instituto de Saúde Ambiental, Faculdade de Medicina, Universidade de Lisboa, Lisbon, Portugal
Elisabete Fernandes
Affiliation:
Faculdade de Medicina, Universidade de Lisboa, Lisbon, Portugal
Nuno Sousa-Santos
Affiliation:
Instituto de Medicina Preventiva e Saúde Pública, Faculdade de Medicina, Universidade de Lisboa, Lisbon, Portugal Instituto de Saúde Ambiental, Faculdade de Medicina, Universidade de Lisboa, Lisbon, Portugal
Osvaldo Santos
Affiliation:
Instituto de Medicina Preventiva e Saúde Pública, Faculdade de Medicina, Universidade de Lisboa, Lisbon, Portugal Instituto de Saúde Ambiental, Faculdade de Medicina, Universidade de Lisboa, Lisbon, Portugal Faculdade de Medicina, Universidade de Lisboa, Lisbon, Portugal
Paulo Jorge Nicola
Affiliation:
Instituto de Medicina Preventiva e Saúde Pública, Faculdade de Medicina, Universidade de Lisboa, Lisbon, Portugal Instituto de Saúde Ambiental, Faculdade de Medicina, Universidade de Lisboa, Lisbon, Portugal Faculdade de Medicina, Universidade de Lisboa, Lisbon, Portugal
Carla Lopes
Affiliation:
Faculdade de Medicina, Universidade do Porto, Porto, Portugal EPIUnit-ISPUP, Instituto de Saúde Pública da Universidade do Porto, Porto, Portugal
João Gorjão-Clara
Affiliation:
Instituto de Medicina Preventiva e Saúde Pública, Faculdade de Medicina, Universidade de Lisboa, Lisbon, Portugal Instituto de Saúde Ambiental, Faculdade de Medicina, Universidade de Lisboa, Lisbon, Portugal
*
*Corresponding author. Email: [email protected]

Abstract

Evidence on how gender intersects with relevant social constructs in later phases of life is scarce. This investigation examined gender inequalities in perceived health status (self-perceived general health; SPGH) by Portuguese elderly community-dwellers while considering psycho-social and socio-demographic determinants. This study used data from a representative sample of community-dwellers aged ≥65 years (N = 920), who were enrolled in the Portuguese Elderly Nutritional Status Surveillance System (PEN-3S) project. Associations between SPGH and socio-demographic and psycho-social variables, functionality and self-reported morbidity were tested; indirect effects of relevant predictors on SPGH were also tested using a bootstrap method. Gender inequalities in health were found: women significantly rated their health worse than men; overall, participants rated their health as fair. Education, functional status, depression symptoms and self-reported morbidity significantly predicted SPGH among women, whereas only the latter two were associated with SPGH among men. For both genders, depression was the strongest predictor of SPGH. Mediation analyses detected indirect effects of cognitive function and loneliness feelings on SPGH among older adults. Results herein provide insights on the predictive role of psycho-social variables on SPGH and support the need for considering the context when addressing the correlates of SPGH among Portuguese older adults. Altogether, these findings might support cost-effective interventions targeting the most vulnerable groups of the population to inequalities in health and its predictors.

Type
Article
Copyright
Copyright © The Author(s), 2020. Published by Cambridge University Press

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