title: Rural and urban elderly construe health differently.
abstract: Samples of people aged 65 or older (N = 396) living in the metropolitan Omaha area and in the rural Sandhills counties of central and western Nebraska completed an instrument to assess health satisfaction, health behaviors, and attitudes toward health care. Few intergroup differences were found that could be attributed to the area of residence. However, factor analysis and item analysis of the attitudes toward health items indicated that older respondents in rural areas may have very different perceptions of health in general and of health care services in particular than those of elderly urban residents.
authors.affiliation: Department of Gerontology, University of Nebraska, Omaha 68182.
authors.forename: J A
authors.initials: JA
authors.lastname: Thorson
authors.forename: F C
authors.initials: FC
authors.lastname: Powell
mesh_terms: D000368:Aged; D001294:Attitude to Health; D005610:Freedom; D015438:Health Behavior; D006296:Health Services / Q000706:statistics & numerical data; D006297:Health Services Accessibility; D006801:Humans; D009329:Nebraska; D010549:Personal Satisfaction; D012424:Rural Population; D011795:Surveys and Questionnaires; D014505:Urban Population