Effect of age, education and health status on community dwelling older men’s health concerns

Figures & data

Table I.  Respondent characteristics.

	n = 2325	Normative data
Age (mean ± SD)	72.9 ± 7.0	Men aged 55 years and older made up 25% of Canada’s male population in 2010; [13]
range	55–97
Marital status
Married	71.3%	71.0% [14]
Widowed	12.0%	4.6% [14]
Divorced	10.0%	10.0% [14]
Never married	6.7%	7.2% [14]
Living alone	22.5%	26.9% [15]
Caucasian	90.3%	87.7% [16]
University or college education	35.2%	21.1% [17]
Employment status
Working fulltime	6.1%	25.5% [14]
Part time or once in awhile	11.7%	22.1% [14]
Fully retired	82.2.%	52.4% [14]
Perceived health status
Excellent or very good	47.3%	42.1% [18]
Good	37.3%	33.9% [18]
Fair or poor	15.4%	24.0% [18]
Health conditions
High blood pressure	47.6%	44.9% [18]
Diabetes	21.3%	22.1% [18]
Arthritis	41.8%	32.3% [18]
Physical health (PCS12)* (mean ± SD)	44.9 ± 10.5	46.7 [10]
Mental health (MCS12)* (mean ± SD)	54.1 ± 8.2	54.8 [10]

*Higher scores denote better health. Possible range 0–100.

Table II.  Men’s health concerns and perceptions of care.

	Proportion of men who are greatly concerned about this health issue/ judge it to be very important	Proportion of men reporting that providers screen, treat or address this health issue
Function-related concerns
Mobility impairment	64.4%	13.2%
Memory loss	63.6%	8.8%
Vision loss	60.6%	40.9%
Hearing loss	52.0%	29.3%
Falls	50.8%	11.9%
Loss of muscle strength	42.5%	19.0%
Urine leakage	42.2%	17.8%
Pain	40.6%	32.0%
Psychosocial issues
Medication side effects	62.7%	84.5%
Depression	44.8%	9.5%
Sleep difficulties	37.7%	20.7%
Erectile dysfunction	35.7%	25.4%
Nutrition	32.7%	41.8%
Anxiety	27.1%	17.0%
End of life care	27.0%	11.8%
Exercise	20.5%	41.9%
Disease-related conditions
Osteoporosis	44.6%	13.5%
Alzheimer’s disease	35.8%	15.8%
Stroke	35.5%	96.0%
Prostate disease	34.4%	81.4%
Colon cancer	33.5%	55.5%
Heart disease	29.7%	94.1%
Diabetes	23.7%	87.5%
Pneumonia	19.4%	81.7%

Table III.  Effect of education, physical and mental health status, and age on health concerns.

	Adjusted odds ratios (95% confidence intervals)*
	Lower level of education	Poor physical health	Poor mental health	Older age (75+)
Function-related concerns
Mobility impairment	1.5 (1.2–1.8)	1.7 (1.3–2.4)	1.2 (0.9–1.6)	0.8 (0.6–1.0)
Memory loss	1.3 (1.0–1.7)	0.9 (0.7–1.3)	1.1 (0.8–1.4)	0.7 (0.5–0.8)
Vision loss	1.2 (1.0–1.6)	1.1 (0.8–1.4)	1.3 (1.0–1.8)	0.8 (0.6–1.0)
Hearing loss	1.5 (1.2–1.9)	0.9 (0.7–1.1)	1.1 (0.8–1.5)	1.0 (0.7–1.2)
Falls	1.2 (1.0–1.5)	1.5 (1.2–2.0)	0.9 (0.7–1.2)	1.1 (0.9–1.3)
Loss of muscle strength	1.5 (1.2–1.9)	1.7 (1.3–2.4)	1.2 (0.9–1.7)	0.8 (0.7–1.1)
Urine leakage	1.5 (1.2–1.8)	1.1 (0.9–1.4)	1.0 (0.8–1.3)	1.0 (0.8–1.2)
Pain	1.2 (1.0–1.5)	2.1 (1.6–2.7)	1.3 (1.0–1.7)	0.7 (0.6–0.9)
Psychosocial issues
Medication side effects	1.1 (0.9–1.5)	1.6 (1.1–2.2)	1.2 (0.9–1.7)	1.1 (0.8–1.4)
Depression	1.4 (1.2–1.7)	0.9 (0.7–1.1)	1.9 (1.5–2.4)	0.8 (0.6–0.9)
Sleep difficulties	1.5 (1.2–1.8)	1.2 (0.9–1.5)	2.1 (1.6–2.7)	0.8 (0.7–1.0)
Erectile dysfunction	1.6 (1.3–1.9)	0.8 (0.7–1.0)	1.1 (0.9–1.4)	0.6 (0.5–0.7)
Nutrition	1.0 (0.8–1.2)	1.2 (0.9–1.5)	1.2 (0.9–1.5)	1.1 (0.9–1.3)
Anxiety	1.6 (1.3–2.0)	1.2 (1.0–1.6)	1.8 (1.4–2.3)	0.8 (0.7–1.0)
End of life care	1.3 (1.1–1.8)	1.4 (1.1–1.7)	1.5 (1.2–1.9)	1.1 (0.9–1.4)
Exercise	1.0 (0.8–1.2)	1.3 (1.1–1.7)	1.1 (0.9–1.4)	0.8 (0.7–1.0)
Disease-related conditions
Osteoporosis	1.4 (1.2–1.7)	1.2 (0.9–1.5)	0.9 (0.7–1.1)	0.9 (0.8–1.1)
Alzheimer’s disease	1.7 (1.4–2.0)	0.9 (0.8–1.2)	1.5 (1.2–1.9)	0.9 (0.7–1.1)
Stroke	1.9 (1.6–2.3)	1.3 (1.1–1.7)	1.4 (1.1–1.7)	0.9 (0.8–1.1)
Prostate disease	1.9 (1.6–2.3)	1.5 (1.1–1.8)	1.5 (1.2–2.0)	0.9 (0.7–1.1)
Colon cancer	1.8 (1.5–2.2)	1.2 (0.9–1.4)	1.4 (1.1–1.7)	1.0 (0.8–1.2)
Heart disease	1.9 (1.6–2.3)	1.4 (1.1–1.8)	1.3 (1.0–1.6)	1.0 (0.8–1.2)
Diabetes	1.8 (1.5–2.2)	1.7 (1.3–2.1)	1.3 (1.1–1.6)	0.8 (0.7–1.0)
Pneumonia	1.8 (1.5–2.1)	1.6 (1.3–2.0)	1.3 (1.1–1.6)	0.9 (0.8–1.1)

*All results are adjusted for education, PCS12, MCS12 and age in multivariate logistic regression analyses.

Odds ratios whose 95% confidence intervals do not span 1.0 are significant and are highlighted in bold.

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