Aging male's symptoms in a Southern Brazil population: lifestyle effects after the age of 40

Figures & data

Table I.  Characteristics of the studied men (40 years or older) in Pelotas – Brazil, 2007 (n = 421).

Variables	n	%
Age (years)
40–49	164	39.0
50–59	137	32.6
60–69	77	18.3
70 or older	43	10.1
Skin color
White	357	85.2
Non white	62	14.8
Schooling (years)
0	14	3.3
1–4	112	26.6
5–8	146	34.7
9–11	76	18.1
12 or more	73	17.3
Economic level
A (highest)	33	8.0
B	140	33.9
C	191	46.2
D/E	49	11.9
Marital status
Living with partner	325	77.2
Living without partner	96	22.8
Body Mass Index
Normal	133	32.9
Overweight	183	45.3
Obesity	88	21.8
Smoking status
Non-smoker	128	30.4
Former smoker	175	41.6
Current smoker	118	28.0
Physical activity level
Inactive	262	62.8
Active	155	37.2
Self-perceived health
Excellent	41	9.8
Very good	58	13.8
Good	216	51.4
Fair	85	20.2
Poor	20	4.8
Moderate/severe symptoms*
No	312	80.0
Yes	78	20.0

*Variable with highest missing count (31).

Table II.  Severity of aging male's symptoms, stratified by age in Pelotas – Brazil, 2007 (n = 421).

		Symptoms classification n (%)
Score	Age (years)	None/little	Mild	Moderate	Severe
Total	≥70	11 (6.5)	12 (8.5)	13 (19.1)	5 (50.0)
	60–69	24 (12.1)	33 (23.2)	14 (20.6)	2 (20.0)
	50–59	56 (32.9)	47 (33.1)	22 (32.4)	1 (10.0)
	40–49	79 (46.5)	50 (35.2)	19 (27.9)	2 (20.0)
Psychological	≥70	10 (23.3)	15 (34.9)	7 (16.3)	11 (25.6)
	60–69	18 (23.4)	31 (40.3)	18 (23.4)	10 (13.0)
	50–59	27 (20.2)	47 (35.1)	37 (27.6)	23 (17.2)
	40–49	16 (9.9)	76 (47.2)	40 (24.8)	29 (18.0)
Somatic	≥70	7 (16.3)	15 (34.9)	16 (37.2)	5 (11.6)
	60–69	13 (16.9)	32 (41.6)	22 (28.6)	10 (13.0)
	50–59	28 (20.9)	63 (47.0)	33 (24.6)	10 (7.5)
	40–49	35 (21.7)	73 (45.3)	46 (28.6)	7 (4.4)
Sexual	≥70	3 (7.3)	2 (4.9)	9 (22.0)	27 (65.9)
	60–69	5 (6.9)	9 (12.3)	26 (35.6)	33 (45.2)
	50–59	14 (11.1)	25 (19.8)	53 (42.1)	34 (27.0)
	40–49	29 (19.3)	52 (34.7)	49 (32.7)	20 (13.3)

Figure 1.  Prevalence of psychological, somatic and sexual aging symptoms in representative samples of Brazilian, Japanese and German men.

*Significant difference from the Brazilian to the Japanese and German population (p = 0.01; p < 0.001, respectively).

^#Significant difference from the Japanese population to the Brazilian and from the Brazilian to the German population (p = 0.003; p = 0.04, respectively).

^£Significant difference from the Brazilian to German population (p < 0.001).

Table III.  Prevalence of moderate/severe aging male's symptoms (scores ≥37 points) and association with sociodemographic, socioeconomic and behavioral variables in Pelotas – Brazil, 2007 (n = 421).

			Crude analysis		Adjusted analysis
Variables	n	%	PR (CI 95%)	p	PR (CI 95%)	p
Age (years)^†				<0.001**		<0.001**
40–49	21	14.0	1.0		1.0
50–59	23	18.3	1.3 (0.8–2.2)		1.3 (0.8–2.3)
60–69	16	21.9	1.6 (0.9–2.8)		1.6 (0.9–2.9)
70 or older	18	43.9	3.1 (1.9–5.3)		3.1 (1.8–5.2)
Skin color^†				0.1		0.2
White	64	19.2	1.0		1.0
Non-white	14	25.9	1.3 (0.9–1.7)		1.4 (0.8–2.2)
Schooling (years)^‡				0.004**		0.07
0	6	46.2	1.0		1.0
1–4	27	27.0	0.6 (0.3–1.1)		0.8 (0.4–1.5)
5–8	24	17.8	0.4 (0.2–0.8)		0.6 (0.3–1.1)
9–11	12	16.7	0.4 (0.2–0.8)		0.6 (0.3–1.4)
12 or more	9	12.9	0.3 (0.1–0.7)		0.5 (0.2–1.1)
Economic level^‡				0.01**		0.6
A (highest)	1	3.23	1.0		1.0
B	24	18.6	5.8 (0.8–41.1)		4.5 (0.6 to 32.3)
C	39	21.9	6.8 (1.0–47.8)		4.1 (0.5 to 31.0)
D/E	12	26.1	8.1 (1.1–59.2)		4.1 (0.5–33.6)
Marital status^‡				0.03*		0.06
Living with partner	54	17.8	1.0		1.0
Living without partner	24	27.9	1.6 (1.0–2.4)		1.5 (1.0–2.2)
Body Mass Index^§				0.9		0.7
Normal	26	21.1	1.0		1.0
Overweight	29	17.0	0.8 (0.5–1.3)		1.0 (0.6–1.6)
Obesity	17	21.3	1.0 (0.6–1.7)		1.1 (0.6–2.0)
Smoking status^§				0.004*		0.006*
Non-smoker	12	10.3	1.0		1.0
Former smoker	39	23.6	2.3 (1.3–4.2)		1.7 (0.9–3.1)
Current smoker	27	24.8	2.4 (1.3–4.5)		2.3 (1.2–4.3)
Physical activity level^§				0.02*		0.01*
Inactive	37	26.4	1.0		1.0
Active	40	16.2	0.6 (0.4–0.9)		0.6 (0.4–0.9)
Self-perceived health^¶				<0.001**		<0.001**
Excellent	3	8.1	1.0		1.0
Very good	5	9.3	1.1 (0.3–4.5)		1.2 (0.2–6.0)
Good	28	13.7	1.7 (0.5–5.3)		2.1 (0.5–8.6)
Fair	30	40.5	5.0 (1.6–15.3)		5.5 (1.3–22.6)
Poor	12	63.2	7.8 (2.5–24.3)		6.0 (1.3–26.9)

PR, prevalence ratios; CI95%, 95% confidence intervals.

^†Adjusted for age and skin color.

^‡Adjusted for variables in level 1 and schooling, economic level and marital status.

^§Adjusted for variables in levels 1 and 2, and body mass index, smoking and physical activity.

^¶Adjusted for variables in the three levels above.

*Wald's test for heterogeneity.

**Wald's test for trend.

Figure 2.  Severity of aging symptoms according to the physical activity level.