Gender Disparities In Health Research Articles

Gender disparity in health and nutritional status among under-five children in a rural field practice area of Shri BM Patil Medical College

Gender disparity in health and nutritional status among under-five children in a rural field practice area of Shri BM Patil Medical College

Gender Disparity in Health and Food Expenditure in India among Elderly

The present paper aims to shed light on the changing pattern of gender disparity in health and food expenditure over time among the elderly in India. National Sample Survey Organization (NSSO) data of the 55th (1999-2000) and the 64th (2007-2008) rounds on household consumer expenditure have been used for this study. Further, the paper examines whether change in the sex composition of the elderly in households contributes to a change in health and food expenditure. The findings indicate wide gender disparity in food and health care expenditure, with that of males being higher than that of their female counterparts; the gap, however, is narrowing with time. The compositional shift in sex among the elderly in households contributes significantly to the decline in household health and the increase in household food expenditure over time.

An Intersectional Analysis to Explaining a Lack of Physical Activity Among Middle Class Black Women

AbstractIn this essay, I make the case that the intersectionality framework is useful to explain the high level of obesity among Black women. I describe how the intersectionality framework reformulates the examination of racial and gender disparities in health by deconstructing traditional frames of Whiteness and maleness. Next, I discuss key barriers that operate as mechanisms to reduce Black women's level of physical activity. Then, I provide ways to potentially combat these barriers. In doing so, I argue that being physically active is a privilege rooted in how race, place, gender, and body image converge differently on Black women's propensity to be physically active than other raced and gendered groups. Middle class Black women are excluded from class‐based privileges and experience a form of space invasion where their temporal space, geographic space, and bodily space are invaded. In this regard, this research agenda is not solely about physical activity but rather how the structural arrangements of communities contribute to healthy lifestyles.

Sex and gender in the US health surveillance system: a call to action.

Youth Risk Behavior Survey (YRBS) data have exposed significant sexual orientation disparities in health. Interest in examining the health of transgender youths, whose gender identities or expressions are not fully congruent with their assigned sex at birth, highlights limitations of the YRBS and the broader US health surveillance system. In 2009, we conducted the mixed-methods Massachusetts Gender Measures Project to develop and cognitively test measures for adolescent health surveillance surveys. A promising measure of transgender status emerged through this work. Further research is needed to produce accurate measures of assigned sex at birth and several dimensions of gender to further our understanding of determinants of gender disparities in health and enable strategic responses to address them.

Gender disparities in health and healthcare: results from the Portuguese National Health Interview Survey

Although women experience poorer health conditions during their lives, they live longer than men. The main explanations for this paradox suggest that women's excess of ill-health is limited to minor illnesses and their different attitudes toward health. The authors test these assumptions by investigating disparities between men and women in health and healthcare in Portugal. Data are used from the Portuguese National Health Interview Survey 2005/2006 (N = 33,662). Multivariate regressions showed that women were more likely to report worse self-rated health, more days with disability, higher prevalence of hypertension, chronic pain, cancer, anxiety and depression, and more medical consultations. Heart disease was significantly more prevalent among men, possibly explaining part of the paradox. Women's more frequent use of medical consultations may reflect their heightened awareness of health problems, which may protect them against early death. Gender differences in socioeconomic status explain part of the differences in health, but fail to provide a complete understanding.

Conducting a Needs Assessment for Women and Girls Using a Gender Analysis Framework: The Philadelphia Ujima Coalition for a Healthier Community Experience

IntroductionDespite a century of work toward gender equality, sex and gender disparities in health remain. Morbidity and mortality rates as well as quality of care received differ between men and women. The Philadelphia Ujima Coalition for a Healthier Community is composed of 23 academic, social service, wellness, faith-based, governmental, and healthcare organizations. The coalition, funded by the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, Office on Women's Health, used a community participatory framework to conduct a gender-informed needs assessment of priority areas for women's health. MethodsA four-tiered approach was used: 1) Coalition members identified priority areas; 2) we analyzed data from the Southeastern Pennsylvania 2010 Household Health Survey to identify gender differences in health; 3) using a gender analysis framework, we conducted interviews with “key informant” stakeholders; and 4) we conducted a community health assessment including 160 women. We used a participatory process to rank priority areas. ResultsSex and gender disparities in health outcomes and behaviors were observed. Data were used to identify gender barriers and norms that influence health practices and behaviors, defining priority areas for the health of women and girls. Effective health promotion strategies were also identified. ConclusionsA gender-integrated needs assessment of girls and women can reveal priority areas and gender-related objectives that should be included in health promotion programming for girls and women.

The Men’s Health Forum: An Initiative to Address Health Disparities in the Community

Racial/ethnic, socioeconomic, and gender disparities in health and access to and use of health care services currently exist. Health professionals are continually striving to reduce and eliminate health disparities within their own community. One such effort in the area of Tampa Bay, Florida was the creation of the African American Men's Health Forum, currently referred to as the Men's Health Forum. The African American Men's Health Forum was the result of the community's desire to reduce the gap in health outcomes for African American men. Later, it was recognized that the gap in health outcomes impacts other communities; therefore, it was broadened to include all men considered medically underserved (those who are uninsured, underinsured, or without a regular health care provider). The Men's Health Forum empowers men with the resources, knowledge, and information to effectively manage their health by providing health education and screenings to the community. This article provides an explanation of the key components that have contributed to the success of the Men's Health Forum, including challenges and lessons learned. It is intended that this information be replicated in other communities in an effort to eliminate health disparities.

Gender and Physical Health

Although gender disparities in health in the United States remain a primary concern among health professionals, less is known about this phenomenon within the black American population. Using the National Survey of American Life, the author examines gender differences in self-rated health, chronic illness, and functional limitations among African Americans (n = 3,330) and Caribbean blacks (n = 1,562) and the extent to which the availability of resources explains these differences. The results reveal a consistent disadvantage among African American women across indicators of health. The gender-health relationship among Caribbean blacks is somewhat weaker, but there is a health disadvantage for immigrant women and U.S.-born Caribbean men when certain resources are taken into account. These findings illustrate the importance of the intersections of race, ethnicity, and nativity in our understanding of gender differences in health.

Gender Disparities in Health and Healthcare Use Among Older Adults

Gender differences in health and the use of health services are a long-standing concern for the U.S. medical system. Our purpose was to examine if there are patterns of gender differences in the type of medical service used among older Americans. We conducted a prospective study of 9164 Americans aged >or=65 followed through the Health and Retirement Study (HRS), a national probability sample of community dwelling adults. Self-reported medical utilization between 2002 and 2004 was modeled as a function of 2002 baseline characteristics of the sample. Health needs were substantially greater among older women compared with men, but women had fewer economic resources. Controlling for health needs did little to explain gender differences in preventive care and increased gender differences in the use of hospital services. Women were less likely to have hospital stays (adjusted odds ratio [OR] = 0.79) and had fewer physician visits (3.07 vs. 3.30 median visits within 2 years) than men with similar demographic and health profiles. In contrast, the greater use of home healthcare among women was almost entirely explained by their greater health needs. These national data show that simple evaluations of age-adjusted gender differences in the use of hospital and physician services that do not account for underlying health needs are in danger of understating these disparities.

Women’s Health Across the Life Span: Contributions From Nursing Science

The demystification of women’s bodies was the cornerstone of the popular women’s health movement of the 1960s in the United States. Yet, despite early efforts to respond to this call for action, such as the Boston Women’s Health Book Collective’s publication of Our Bodies Ourselves (1973), the scientific community was slow to respond to women’s need for information about their unique physiology. The National Institutes of Health’s (NIH) Office of Research on Women’s Health (ORWH), for example, was not established until 1990. Nursing science was an exception to the scientific community’s early lack of attention to women’s health: By the time the OWHR published its first NIH Women’s Health Research Agenda (ORWH, 1991), women’s health research within nursing science was well established, reflecting an integrative view of women’s bodies coupled with a feminist critique of the sociopolitical milieu in which women experience health. Nursing’s contribution to women’s health science has continued to develop over the past 40 years, leading the way to a redefinition of women’s health that transcends merely reproductive health. A reconceptualization of women’s health services has evolved, often in collaboration with women, prompting the development of women’s health curricula for advanced practice nurses and significant contributions in nursing research to women’s health science across the life span (Taylor and Woods, 2001). Although often constrained by both the small amount of funding available and the limited interest of funders in topics related to women’s health, scholars in nursing have pushed knowledge of women’s health forward. In 1989, the National Institute of Nursing Research promoted women’s health research through funding the Center for Women’s Health Research. This center launched a number of interdisciplinary collaborations in areas important to symptom management and self-care (Heitkemper et al., 2008). Nursing scientists’ early acknowledgment of gender disparities in health has gone relatively unnoticed by policymakers in the United States. By contrast, the Canadian government has responded to such concerns with a robust policy on gender and health research that is supportive of a socially relevant study of embodied health (Morrow, Hankivsky, & Varcoe, 2007). Because of a lack of similar support, nurse researchers’ contribution to women’s health science might appear anemic in the United States, in contrast to its potential. There are, however, good reasons to remain positive about nursing scientists’ contributions. Our progress can, in fact, be seen in the pages of this very journal. In April 2004, we published a special issue of BRN entitled ‘‘Sex: Does It Matter to Biological Nursing Research?’’ We received 10 12 submissions in response to our call for papers for that issue and published 8 of them. For this current special issue, ‘‘Women’s Health Across the Life Span,’’ the call for papers attracted nearly 40 submissions, resulting in publication of 16 articles over two issues of the journal (12:1 and 12:2). The content of this double special issue provides evidence that biological nursing research makes unique contributions to the science of women’s health on topics spanning the life span, from birth to old age. A number of authors for this special issue present data and analysis that help support our understanding of how sociopolitical factors shape women’s experiences with disease and pregnancy as well as their infants’ survival chances. Melkus et al. report that diabetes self-management training improved metabolic control, quality of life, and perceptions of provider care among African American women with type 2 diabetes, whereas the addition of coping skills training may have assisted in sustaining long-term improvements in health outcomes (12:1). Kuo et al. report data that show a relationship between both stress and human chorionic gonadotropin (hCG) and nausea and vomiting in pregnancy (12:1). Two of the articles address preterm birth, a socially significant problem in the United States, costly whether the calculus is in human life or dollars. Maloni challenges long-held assumptions about the value of

Explaining gender differences in ill-health in South Korea: The roles of socio-structural, psychosocial, and behavioral factors

This study examines and explains the gender disparity in health despite rapid modernization in South Korea where the social structure is still based on traditional gender relations. A nationally representative sample of 2897 men and 3286 women aged 25–64 from the 2001 Korean National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey was analyzed. Health indicators included self rated health and chronic disease. Age-adjusted prevalence was computed according to a gender and odds ratios (OR) derived from logistic regression. Percentage changes in OR by inclusion of determinant variables (socio-structural, psychosocial, and behavioral) into the base logistic regression model were used to estimate the contributions to the gender gap in two morbidity measures. Results showed a substantial female excess in ill-health in both measures, revealing an increasing disparity in the older age group. Group-specific age-adjusted prevalence of ill-health showed an inverse relationship to socioeconomic position. When adjusting for each determinant, employment status, education, and depression contributed the greatest to the gender gap. After adjusting for all suggested determinants, 78% for self rated health and 86% for chronic disease in excess OR could be explained. After stratifying for age, the full model provided a complete explanation for the female excess in chronic illness, but for self rated health a female excess was still evident for the younger age group. Socio-structural factors played a crucial role in accounting for female excess in ill-health. This result calls for greater attention to gender-based health inequality stemming from socio-structural determinants in South Korea. Cross-cultural validation studies are suggested for further discussion of the link between changing gender relations and the gender health gap in morbidity in diverse settings.

Pakistan's health policy: Appropriateness and relevance to women's health needs

The interface between national health policy and women's health needs is complex in developing countries like Pakistan. This paper aims to assess if Pakistan's national health policy 2001 is relevant and appropriate to women's health needs. Through review of existing data on women, a profile of women's health needs was developed which was transformed into framework of analysis. This framework indicates that Pakistani women's health needs are determined by gender disparities in health and health-related sectors. Comparison of national health policy with women's health needs framework reveals that although policy focuses on women's health through prioritization of gender equity, it is however addressed as an isolated theme without acknowledging the vital role gender inequalities in health and health-related sectors play in defining women's health needs. Moreover, gender equity is translated as provision of reproductive health services to married mothers, ignoring various critical overarching issues of women's life such as sexual abuse, violence, induced abortion, etc. Health systems strengthening strategies are though suggested but these fails to recognize main obstacles of utilization of healthcare services by women including non-availability of female healthcare providers and gender-based obstacles to healthcare utilization such as illiteracy, lack of empowerment to make decisions related to health, etc. In order to be relevant and appropriate to women's health needs the policy should: (1) use gender equity in health and health-related sectors as an approach to develop a healthy policy (2) expand the focus from reproductive health to life cycle approach to address all issues around women's life (3) strengthen health systems through creation of gender equity among all cadres of health providers (4) tailoring health interventions to counter gender-based obstacles to utilization of healthcare services and (5) dissemination interventions for behavior change.

Gender Disparities in Health: Strategic Selection, Careers, and Cycles of Control

This article proposes a dynamic model of the intersections between gender, health, and the life course incorporating processes of strategic selection--of roles, relationships, and behavior. Men and women make decisions within a tangled web of multilayered, often contradictory, and frequently outdated institutional contexts of opportunity and constraint. Both their decisions and the institutions shaping them reflect prior as well as ongoing socialization and allocation mechanisms. These institutionalized scripts and regimes tend to reproduce gendered biographical paths around two central life foci: paid work (or careers) and unpaid family work (or careers). The gendered nature of occupational and family-care paths, in turn, produces patterned disparities in a constellation of health-related resources, relationships, and risks, as well as feelings of mastery and control. We call for research charting alternative constellations of these gendered health careers, their antecedents, temporal patterning, and consequences.

Gender issues and oral health in elderly Indians

Gender disparity in health and diseases is increasingly being recognised. Therefore, it was decided to investigate gender differences in the elderly subjects (60+years) from a community-based study. The study was undertaken to evaluate the oral health status and treatment needs of urban and rural elderly and to study the impact of socio-demographic variables on them. An urban area in South Delhi and its adjoining four villages was selected. A modified WHO-Oral Health Survey proforma and Rup-Nagpal's scale were used to record oral health and socio-demographic data respectively. In addition, diet pattern (vegetarian/non-vegetarian) and body mass index (BMI) were also recorded. Chi square test and p values were calculated for each of the studied parameters. There were significant differences for socio-economic status, literacy level, marital and family status between elderly men and women (p<0.0001). A higher percentage of elderly women were vegetarian and overweight than elderly men (p<0.01). However, there were few differences found in the prevalence of dental caries, periodontal diseases and edentulousness between male and female elderly (p>0.01). The only difference found was in the evidence of previous dental treatment received. Elderly men had a higher percentage of filled teeth and denture wear compared to elderly women (p<0.01). Women's oral health is significantly influenced by social, economic and psychological factors.

Gender and health: reassessing patterns and explanations

Recent research on gender and health challenges the prevailing notion of women’s generalized health disadvantage by revealing a more variable pattern of gender differences in health. As such differences come to be comprehended as more complex than previously thought, there is a need to reassess the pathways linking gender and health. Using data from a Canadian national probability sample, we examine: (1) gender differences in distress, self-rated health, chronic conditions, restricted activity and heavy drinking; and (2) the role of gender-based differential exposure and vulnerability to chronic stress and life events in explaining observed differences. We find that women report more distress and chronic conditions than men, but gender differences are reversed for heavy drinking, and negligible for self-rated health and restricted activity. Although women reported more chronic stress and life events, their greater exposure accounted for only some of the gender disparity in health, and only for distress. Differential vulnerability to stressors played no role in explaining gender differences in health. These findings raise questions about a gendered, generalized health response to the vicissitudes of life and suggest the need for further theoretical and empirical exploration of “gendered” experiences and their pathways to health.