Differences in Self-Reported Physical Limitation Among Older Women and Men in Ismailia, Egypt

Author's Department

Social Research Center (SRC)

Find in your Library

https://doi.org/10.1093/geronb/gbs066

All Authors

Zeinab Khadr, Kathryn Yount

Document Type

Research Article

Publication Title

The Journals of Gerontology: Series B

Publication Date

Summer 8-16-2012

doi

10.1093/geronb/gbs066

Abstract

Objectives. This study explores the reasons for gender differences in self-reported physical limitation among older adults in Ismailia, Egypt. Method. 435 women and 448 men, 50 years and older in Ismailia, Egypt, participated in a social survey and tests of physical performance. Ordered logit models were estimated to compare unadjusted gender differences in reported disability with these differences adjusted sequentially for (a) age and objective measures of physical performance, (b) self-reported morbidities and health care use, and (c) social and economic attributes. Results. Compared with men, women more often reported higher levels of limitation in activities of daily living (ADLs), upper-extremity range of motion (ROM), and lower-extremity gross mobility (GM). Adjusting for age and objective measures of physical performance, women and men had similar odds of self-reporting difficulty with ADLs. With sequential adjustments for the remaining variables, women maintained significantly higher odds of self-reported difficulty with upper-extremity ROM and lower-extremity GM. Discussion. Cross-culturally, gender differences in self-reported disability may arise from objective and subjective perceptions of disability. Collectively, these results and those from prior studies in Bangladesh and the United States suggest that gender gaps in self-reported physical limitation may be associated with the degree of gender equality in society.

First Page

605

Last Page

617

This document is currently not available here.

Find this item online

Share

COinS