title: Determinants of gender differences in health among the elderly in Latin America.
abstract: This paper identifies the main gender differences in health and socio-economic characteristics of the elderly in four Latin American cities. Using locally weighted regressions as well as a flexible model specification that treats age non-parametrically, we investigate whether these unadjusted gender gaps in health are due to gender differences in the distribution of age and other explanatory variables. Interestingly, for all cities, the analyses show a gender gap in health in favour of males at each age. The gaps are larger when one uses functional impairment in mobility and personal self-care as indicators of an individual's health instead of self-reported health. Furthermore, controlling for demographic characteristics, baseline health and the availability of family support do little to change the disadvantage for women in measured health outcomes. Controlling for socio-economic variables does, however, reduce most of the gender differences in health.
authors.affiliation: Department of International Health, Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health, Baltimore, Maryland 21205, USA. atrujill@jhsph.edu
authors.forename: Antonio J
authors.initials: AJ
authors.lastname: Trujillo
authors.forename: Thomas A
authors.initials: TA
authors.lastname: Mroz
authors.forename: Claudia
authors.initials: C
authors.lastname: Piras
authors.forename: John A
authors.initials: JA
authors.lastname: Vernon
authors.forename: Gustavo
authors.initials: G
authors.lastname: Angeles
mesh_terms: D000367:Age Factors; D000368:Aged; D000369:Aged, 80 and over; D002908:Chronic Disease / Q000453:epidemiology; D003430:Cross-Sectional Studies; D005260:Female; D015438:Health Behavior; D006304:Health Status; D006801:Humans; D007843:Latin America; D008297:Male; D008603:Mental Health / Q000706:statistics & numerical data; D008875:Middle Aged; D012307:Risk Factors; D012737:Sex Factors; D012944:Social Support; D012959:Socioeconomic Factors