Sex Differences in the Use of Health Care Services

Mustard, Cameron; Kaufert, Patricia A.; Kozyrskyj, Anita L.; Mayer, Teresa

doi:10.1056/nejm199806043382307

Cited by 202 publications

(146 citation statements)

References 32 publications

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“…Persons of all ages made these visits, although the rates of visits were greatest among older ages, paralleling previous data for arthritis prevalence (1-3,16). Women had almost twice as many arthritis visits as men across combined settings, which is consistent with their higher prevalence of arthritis, their perceived lower health-related quality of life and physical functioning, and their higher medical care service utilization (2,3,(17)(18)(19)(20). All races used all settings, although rates were lower for "other" races.…”

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confidence: 53%

Magnitude and characteristics of arthritis and other rheumatic conditions on ambulatory medical care visits, United States, 1997

Hootman¹,

Helmick²,

Schappert³

2002

Arthritis & Rheumatism

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Objective. To describe ambulatory medical care utilization, defined to exclude injury-related visits, for persons with arthritis and other rheumatic conditions. Methods. National estimates, rates, and other characteristics of ambulatory care visits were calculated from a national sample of patient visits to physician offices and acute care hospital outpatient and emergency departments.Results. An estimated 36.5 million ambulatory care visits were related to arthritis and other rheumatic conditions. Visit rates increased with age and, overall, were twice as high among women as men. Rates of visits by race varied by ambulatory care setting. Soft tissue disorders (9.3 million), osteoarthritis (7.1 million), nonspecific joint pain/effusion (7.0 million), and rheumatoid arthritis (3.9 million) were the most common diagnoses. Conclusions. Arthritis and other rheumatic conditions account for about as many ambulatory care visits as cardiovascular disease or essential hypertension. These visits serve as excellent opportunities to counsel patients regarding prevention messages for arthritis.

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confidence: 53%

Magnitude and characteristics of arthritis and other rheumatic conditions on ambulatory medical care visits, United States, 1997

Hootman¹,

Helmick²,

Schappert³

2002

Arthritis & Rheumatism

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“…women visit physicians more than men do [1,3,7,8] and use other diagnostic services (e.g. laboratory tests, blood pressure checks, prescriptions) more than men.…”

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confidence: 99%

“…Many researchers have shown that the F/M ratio for prescription drug use is highest in younger women and decreases in older age groups. [4,7] This chapter looks at the extent to which social roles (being a parent, spouse, worker) and demographic and other risk factors are associated with medication use, categorized as prescription (Rx) and over-the-counter (OTC) medication use, in adults aged 20 years and older. For the main analyses hormone use was excluded as it is known that women have higher use of hormones.…”

mentioning

confidence: 99%

Factors associated with women's medication use

Payne¹,

Robert²,

DesMeules³

et al. 2003

PsycEXTRA Dataset

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Health Issue: Research has consistently shown that while women generally live longer than men, they report more illness and use of health care services (including medication). In the literature, the reasons for women's elevated medication use are not clear. This paper investigates the associations between over-the-counter (OTC) and prescription (Rx) medication use and selected social and demographic variables in men and women.Key findings: While a larger proportion of women than men used medication throughout the study, the proportion of people using medication did not increase. The use of OTC and Rx medication increased by number of physician visits for women and men.Medication use increased with age, chronic disease and number of physician visits, and decreased with the perception of good to excellent health. The relationship with other factors varied for women and men depending on their education level, income and social roles. For women, the social roles of being married or previously married, being employed or being a parent did not increase their likelihood of medication use. Reported income adequacy is not associated with the chances of mediation use among highly educated women, but for women with low levels, medication use increases as income adequacy decreases. Data Gaps and Recommendations:More complete data are needed about social roles and their relation to mediation use. Data that would allow an assessment of the appropriateness of OTC and Rx drug use or the reasons for such use need to be collected. More research is needed to better understand the distribution and determinants of specific medication use.

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“…Women have similar or slightly lower rates than men for life-threatening chronic conditions, such as coronary heart disease and cancer. [1,3,7,[13][14][15][16] The higher prevalence of disability, another key measure of population health, among women as compared with men is also fairly well established, [3,9,[17][18][19] and is at least in part accounted for by the higher prevalence of disabling chronic conditions, such as arthritis, among women. [3,20] Various measures of disability, such as activity limitation and dependence on others for daily tasks, and composite measures, such as the Health Utility Index, [21][22][23] have been used to compare the functional status of various populations.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…[26][27][28][29][30] After adjustment for sexspecific diagnosis and higher mortality rates among men, hospital services were found to be comparable between men and women. [18] However, lower levels of morbidity were found among employed women as compared with homemakers, particularly among women working part time. [19] A higher prevalence of activity limitation was also found in groups with lower educational attainment and income, [10,12,17,30,31] although these differences were weaker for education.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Morbidity experiences and disability among Canadian women

DesMeules¹,

Turner²,

Robert³

2003

PsycEXTRA Dataset

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Health Issue: Women are more frequently affected by chronic conditions and disability than men. Although some of these sex differences have been in part attributed to biological susceptibility, social determinants of health and other factors, these gaps have not been fully explained in the current literature. This chapter presents comparisons of hospitalization rates, and the prevalence of chronic conditions and physical disability between Canadian women and men and between various subgroups of women, adjusting for selected risk factors. The Canadian Hospital Morbidity Database (2000Database ( -2001 and Canadian Community Health Survey (2000)(2001) were used to examine inpatient hospital morbidity, prevalence of chronic conditions and disability.Key Findings: Hospitalization rates were 20% higher among women than men. This was due to the large number of hospitalizations for pregnancies and childbirth. When "normal" deliveries were excluded, hospitalization rates remained higher among women. Women had slightly lower rates of hospitalizations for ambulatory-care sensitive conditions than men. Prevalence of activity limitation (mild and severe) was higher among women than men, and differences remained after adjusting for age, chronic conditions, socio-economic status, and smoking. Women who reported a disability were less likely than men to be in a partnered relationship, have less tangible social support, and have lower income and employment rates. Data Gaps and Recommendations:The impact of morbidity and disability on Canadian women is substantial. These results identify areas for interventions among more vulnerable subgroups, and point to the need for further research in the area of risk factors for the prevention of morbidity and disability in the population.

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Sex Differences in the Use of Health Care Services

Abstract: Expenditures for health care are similar for male and female subjects after differences in reproductive biology and higher age-specific mortality rates among men have been accounted for.

Cited by 202 publications

References 32 publications

Magnitude and characteristics of arthritis and other rheumatic conditions on ambulatory medical care visits, United States, 1997

Magnitude and characteristics of arthritis and other rheumatic conditions on ambulatory medical care visits, United States, 1997

Factors associated with women's medication use

Morbidity experiences and disability among Canadian women

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