Gender Differences in Function, Physical Activity, Falls, Medication Use, and Life Satisfaction Among Residents in Assisted Living Settings

Abstract

The purpose of this study was to test for gender differences among assisted living residents. This was a secondary data analysis using data from the first 64 facilities participating in the ongoing Function Focused Care for Assisted Living study using the Evidence Integration Triangle (FFC-AL-EIT). A total of 593 residents were recruited from 64 assisted living settings. Differences by gender with regard to function, physical activity, falls, total numbers of medications, and satisfaction with assisted living were tested using multivariate analysis of variance. There were 166 males (28%) and 427 females (72%) with a mean age of 88 (SD=7.5). The participants had 5 comorbidities (SD= 2) and took on average 6.88 medications (SD=3.47). Participants had moderate functional impairment with a mean of 64.13 (SD=19.09) on the Barthel Index and engaged in 43.80 (SD=76.12) minutes daily of moderate level physical activity. Females reported higher satisfaction with activities [4.32 (SD=1.14) for females and 3.85 (SD=1.51) for males] and females received more medications than males [7.09 (SD=3.51) for females and 6.34 (SD=3.31) for males]. Current study findings suggest that deprescribing may be particularly important for females versus males and focusing on expanding activity options to include those preferred by males should be considered in AL settings.

Gender Differences in Factors Affecting Life Satisfaction of the Elderly with Multimorbidity in Korea

“…In this study, the number of married male elderly was higher than the female elderly. In addition, this study found that elderly men were more satisfied with their health and overall QOL than were women, which is not consistent with the results of several previous studies that elderly women’s life satisfaction level was higher or not significantly different from men’s [ 27 , 28 ]. The average life expectancy of men and women in Korea in 2018 is 79.7 and 85.7 years, respectively, but the life expectancy excluding the disease period is 64.4 years in both males and females, showing that women live longer than men in unhealthy conditions and alone [ 39 ].…”

“…The results of previous studies related to life satisfaction of the elderly have been inconsistent depending on gender. Some studies showed that the level of life satisfaction of older women was higher than that of older men [ 27 , 28 ], while others reported no gender difference in life satisfaction [ 29 ].…”

The Mediating Role of Physical Activity and Physical Function in the Association between Body Mass Index and Health-Related Quality of Life: A Population-Based Study with Older Adults

“…An interesting finding of the present study was that the variables age and sex showed small, and in some cases, non-significant, levels of correlation with the other variables. These results were not in agreement with previous studies; in general, age and sex are considered to influence the levels of PA [ 58 , 59 ], PF [ 60 , 61 ], and body weight [ 14 , 62 ] and, in turn, affect HRQoL levels [ 39 , 40 ].…”

The Impact of Parkinson’s Disease on General and Specific Motor Aptitudes: A Study of Older Brazilian Adults

“…Furthermore, participant gender and age group were associated with these motor aptitude outcomes, regardless of the presence or absence of PD. Older women were more likely to have motor impairment in GMA and Coordinative motor aptitude, corroborating data from previous studies (Coelho-Junior et al, 2021;Oliveira et al, 2019) that have suggested both biologically based differences related to brain architecture and functioning, hormonal variables, and environmentally based differences related to lifestyle and social roles (Marrocco & McEwen, 2016;Resnick et al, 2020).…”