Comparison of the perception of health-related quality of life between older men and women

Abstract

Introduction: The quality of life related to health is understood as the functional and emotional effect that a disease produces in a person, including treatment and how this process is perceived by the person, which may be influenced by gender. Objective: To determine the perception of quality of life related to health among men and older women in the Comarca Lagunera of Coahuila. Method: Quantitative and descriptive cross-sectional study. The sample was 100 old adults selected at convenience in the Nursing School, U.T. from the Autonomous University of Coahuila and a public hospital in the town. Data were analyzed in the SPSS v22 program for Mac, descriptive statistics and the Mann-Whitney U test were used. Results: The analysis between gender and health-related quality of life perception did not observe a significant difference (U=922.00, p=.178); However, when analyzing the quality of life by dimensions, there is a significant difference in three components that are physical mobility (U= 812.00, p < .05), pain (U= 816.00, p < .05) and energy (U= 807.50, p < .05). Conclusions: In the present investigation, it can be observed that older men and women perceive the quality of life related to health in a very similar way, however, a difference was found in some components that from the point of view of the authors, they are closely linked to the social role played by a woman or an older adult man.