Educational and Gender Differences in Health Behavior Changes After a Gateway Diagnosis.

Autor: Hernandez EM; 1 Indiana University, Bloomington, USA., Margolis R; 2 University of Western Ontario, London, Canada., Hummer RA; 3 University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, USA.
Jazyk: angličtina
Zdroj: Journal of aging and health [J Aging Health] 2018 Mar; Vol. 30 (3), pp. 342-364. Date of Electronic Publication: 2016 Dec 08.
DOI: 10.1177/0898264316678756
Abstrakt: Objective: Hypertension represents a gateway diagnosis to more serious health problems that occur as people age. We examine educational differences in three health behavior changes people often make after receiving this diagnosis in middle or older age, and test whether these educational differences depend on (a) the complexity of the health behavior change and (b) gender.
Method: We use data from the Health and Retirement Study and conduct logistic regression analysis to examine the likelihood of modifying health behaviors post diagnosis.
Results: We find educational differences in three behavior changes-antihypertensive medication use, smoking cessation, and physical activity initiation-after a hypertension diagnosis. These educational differences in health behaviors were stronger among women compared with men.
Discussion: Upon receiving a hypertension diagnosis, education is a more important predictor of behavior changes for women compared with men, which may help explain gender differences in the socioeconomic gradient in health in the United States.
Databáze: MEDLINE