Engelsk titel: Self-rated health among elderly women and men - A cross-sectional study
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Författare:
Westerholm, Bodil
;
Glasberg, Ann-Louise
Email: ann-louise.glasberg@novia.fi
Språk: Swe
Antal referenser: 29
Dokumenttyp:
Artikel
UI-nummer: 15123854
Sammanfattning
Background: The aging population is a challenge for the health care in Finland. Disease prevention
and health promotion improves the quality of life for the elderly and reduces health-care costs.
Knowledge about the health of the elderly is crucial in order for improvements to be carried out.
Aim: The aim of this study was to describe disease prevalence and self-rated health among 65-, 70-,
75- and 80-year-old women and men in three municipalities in Ostrobothnia, Finland.
Method: Altogether 502 persons, out of which 274 were women, participated in the present research.
The participants completed a form comprising 75 questions. Data were analysed by means of
descriptive and comparative statistics.
Findings: The results showed that the most common national disease was hypertension, followed by
cancer and diabetes. Stroke and myocardial infarction were the least frequent among the participants.
Nevertheless, the majority of older people felt that their health was good. However, women stated
more frequently than men that they were subject to a group named ‘other diseases’ than men, and
they feared more so than men that something might happen to them. A tenth of the population felt the
emptiness of life.
Conclusions: The results indicate that there are no gender differences in the most common national
diseases but women suffer more from ‘other diseases’ and from fear although the majority of the
population were satisfied with their health.