Differences in disability among older women and men in Egypt and Tunisia.
Research on child survival and health has indicated disparities between boys and girls in selected Middle Eastern countries. Health disparities in later life are understudied in this region. In this article, we examine differences between women and men in later-life activity limitation in Egypt and Tunisia. Difficulty executing physical tasks is more common for women than for men in both study sites, although differences are smaller after adjustment for underlying illness. Differences in the difficulty of executing physical tasks also are sensitive to environmental controls in variable ways across the study sites. The findings caution against the sole use of reported disability in comparative studies of gender and aging.
Yount
Kathryn M
KM
Department of International Health, Emory University, 1518 Clifton Road NE, Room 724, Atlanta, GA 30322, USA. kyount@sph.emory.edu
Agree
Emily M
EM
D000203:Activities of Daily Living; D000368:Aged; D000369:Aged, 80 and over; D015984:Causality; D004185:Disability Evaluation; D004522:Educational Status; D004534:Egypt / Q000453:epidemiology; D005191:Family Characteristics; D005260:Female; D006297:Health Services Accessibility; D006304:Health Status; D006801:Humans; D007407:Interviews as Topic; D008297:Male; D015999:Multivariate Analysis; D009790:Occupations; D012016:Reference Values; D014416:Tunisia / Q000453:epidemiology