Factors associated with the use of the health services by elderly men: a systematic review of the literature

Abstract

A systematic review of the literature on analytical epidemiologic studies about factors associated with the use of health services by elderly men was conducted. Four databases were researched, namely PubMed, Scopus, Web of Science and Lilacs and the following key words "health services," "health services for the aged," "aged," "aged 80 and over," "men" and "men's health" and their corresponding expressions in Portuguese were used. After independent reading and selection of the abstracts and full texts of the 1782 articles located, only eight were included in this review. The Health Services Utilization model assisted in the presentation of the results. Predisposing factors associated with regard to the use of the healthcare services were identified: place of residence; lifestyle habits; age bracket; family history; education and marital status; training factors: private health services use and affiliation to a health insurance plan; effective factors of need; perception of health status; perceived susceptibility to stress; medical history; comorbidities; and functional status. The issue of aging among the male population is still poorly studied and deserves special attention to establish how elderly men express their needs and how they are being assisted by healthcare systems.