scholarly journals Lifestyles, Health, and Life Satisfaction among the Portuguese Seniors

Author(s):  
Aida Isabel Tavares

This chapter focuses on the interaction between lifestyles, health, and life satisfaction of Portuguese seniors. The aim of the analysis is to find the main determinants of health and life satisfaction and to verify the importance of lifestyle variables as determinants of health and life satisfaction. We used data collected by the National Health Survey of 2014 and estimated two ordered probits. The main results show that not all lifestyle variables are meaningful in explaining self-assessed health and life satisfaction. The determinants of the health status include education and income; however, it can be assumed that overall good health, family, or close people and income contribute to life satisfaction. A general profile of the Portuguese seniors is provided; however, the results obtained here are changing as a new scenario is emerging, generation X enters old age.

Author(s):  
Pedro Ángel Latorre-Román ◽  
Juan Manuel Carmona-Torres ◽  
Ana Isabel Cobo-Cuenca ◽  
José Alberto Laredo-Aguilera

Background. Many studies have shown a relationship between physical functioning and health status in older people. Aim. The purpose of this study was to analyze the temporal trends of physical activity (PA), ability to walk, weight status, self-perceived health, and disease or chronic health problems in people over 65 years from 2009 to 2017, using the European Health Survey in Spain and the National Health Survey in Spain. Methods. This study included 13,049 older people: 6026 (2330 men and 3696 women; age (mean, SD (Standard Deviation)) = 75.61 ± 7.11 years old) in 2009 and 7023 (2850 men and 4173 women; age (mean, SD) = 76.01 ± 7.57 years old) in 2017. Results. In 2017, older people exhibited lower values of moderate PA (p < 0.001), a lower number of hours of walking per week (p < 0.001), and worse self-perceived health status (p < 0.001) compared to 2009. These differences are maintained when comparing the sexes. Compliance with PA recommendations was 27.9% and 6.1% (chi-squared = 352.991, p < 0.001) in 2009 and 2017, respectively. There were no significant differences in weight status between older people in 2009 and 2017. In 2017, older people had significantly high percentages of disease or chronic health problems (p < 0.05), number of diseases (p < 0.001), severe difficulty walking 500 m without assistance (p < 0.05), and severe difficulty going up or down 12 stairs. Conclusions. From 2009 to 2017, Spanish older people worsened their PA levels and perception of their health status, and they increased their disease levels, which could be associated with the worsening of ability to walk in 2017.


Curationis ◽  
2001 ◽  
Vol 24 (2) ◽  
Author(s):  
MS Westaway ◽  
T Gumede

A study was conducted with 487 black adult residents of a South African informal settlement (151 men and 336 women) to ascertain satisfaction with personal and environmental quality of life. It was hypothesised that: (1) health status and life satisfaction were the underlying dimensions of personal quality of life (PQOL); (2) health status and life satisfaction were more strongly associated with PQOL than environmental quality of life (EQOL); and (3) life satisfaction and satisfaction with EQOL were positively related. Seventy per cent of respondents rated their health as good or better. Age, schooling and employment status were significantly related to health, life satisfaction and PQOL. Reliability (internal consistency) coefficients were 0.77 for the 5-item life satisfaction scale and 0.82 for the 12-item EQOL measure. Factor analysis showed that safety and security was the major unmet service need. Health status and life satisfaction explained 38% of the variance in PQOL; health status explained only 4% of the variance in EQOL. Life satisfaction was significantly related to EQOL (r = 0.16, p = 0.01). The results provided support for all three hypotheses. It was concluded that the life satisfaction and EQOL measures had good reliability; there was a definite need for a safety and security programme; and good health was a more important predictor of PQOL than EQOL.


Circulation ◽  
2020 ◽  
Vol 141 (Suppl_1) ◽  
Author(s):  
Christina M Shay ◽  
Remy Poudel ◽  
Kimberly Stitzel ◽  
Yosef Khan

Background: Growing evidence exists indicate that subjective perceptions of well-being (i.e. life satisfaction) are favorably associated with overall health status. Few reports are available that explore this association in nationally representative samples of US adults. Methods: Data from were collected from 115,929 US adults (18+ y) from all 50 states via dual mail and web-based sampling through the 2018 Gallup National Health and Well-Being Survey. Well-being was assessed by asking individuals to place themselves on a 10-step ladder with ‘worst possible life’ representing the lowest rung and ‘best possible life’ the top rung; ratings were collected for both their current life and their life in 5 years. Based on both current and future life ratings, individuals were categorized as thriving, struggling, or suffering. General health status was assessed based 5 options (excellent to poor). Results: Significant positive trends were observed between current and future levels of life satisfaction with ratings of general health status after accounting for age, sex, education, an income (p<0.001 and p<0.001, respectively) (Figure 1). Similarly, the proportion of adults categorized as “Thriving” was higher across more favorable levels of general health status. Conclusions: Level of well-being assessed by subjective rating of life satisfaction is strongly, positively, and independently associated with perception of general health status in a large sample of US adults. These results may demonstrate the strong influence of well-being on the preservation of health, however, further prospective examination of these associations are warranted.


2020 ◽  
Vol 33 (2) ◽  
pp. 93
Author(s):  
Carlota Quintal ◽  
Micaela Antunes

Introduction: Equity is a central goal of health policy in Portugal. However, empirical evidence regarding healthcare usage is scarce and there is a lack of up-to-date results. Our objective is to evaluate whether the principle of equal utilisation for equal need has been met.Material and Methods: We use data from the National Health Survey 2014. Healthcare usage is measured by the number of visits to a Family Physician or to a hospital-based specialist. To assess the factors affecting usage we adopted a multivariate regression analysis (Negative Binomial Model). To quantify income-related inequality/inequity in utilisation we computed the concentration index.Results: Better self-assessed health and absence of limitations in daily activities decrease usage; suffering from chronic disease increases usage. Income is not statistically significant; education positively affects usage with a pronounced effect. Living in urban areas increases usage as well as living in Lisbon (compared to North). Living in Algarve or Madeira, or benefiting only from the National Health Service coverage negatively affects usage. The possibility for equity in Family Physician visits cannot be discarded. Regarding hospital based specialist and total visits, the evidence suggests the existence of pro-rich inequity.Discussion: The observed income-related inequity seems to reflect inequalities in other non-need variables. Whether the results are affected by overuse, in the case of hospital based specialist visits, is an issue open to question.Conclusion: Portugal evolved favourably in terms of equity in healthcare usage but several challenges remain.


Author(s):  
Johan Rehnberg

Abstract Objectives Researchers frequently use the “age-as-leveler” hypothesis to explain decreasing inequality and a weakened relationship between socioeconomic position and health in old age. This study examined whether health status can explain the age pattern in the association between income and mortality as predicted by the age-as-leveler hypothesis. Method This study used longitudinal (1991–2002) data from the SWEOLD and LNU surveys. The analytical sample consisted of 2,619 people aged 54–92 in 2003. Mortality (2003–2014) and income (1991–2000) was collected from Swedish national registers. Poisson regression was used to estimate associations between mortality, income, age, and health status. Average marginal effects were used to visualize interaction effects between income and age. Results The association between income and mortality weakened in those aged 84 and older. However, health status explained a large part of the effect that age had on the association between income and mortality. Analyses done after stratifying the sample by health status showed that the association between income and mortality was strong in people who reported good health and weak or nonexistent in those who reported poor health. Discussion Age leveled the income–mortality association; however, health status, not age, explained most of the leveling.


2021 ◽  
Vol 22 (1) ◽  
Author(s):  
Pedro L. Ferreira ◽  
Vitor Raposo ◽  
Aida Isabel Tavares ◽  
Ana Pinto

Abstract Background This paper is focused on two indicators which may be considered as proxies of individuals’ well-being: self-assessed health and burnout intensity. There is little research relating these concepts with the type of the primary healthcare setting, its urbanization density and the region. The aims of this work are threefold: (i) to find determinant factors of individual health status and burnout, (ii) to find possible differences across different types of health care units, differently urbanized areas, and different administrative regions, and (iii) to verify if there are differences in between GPs and nurses. Methods Data was gathered from an online questionnaire implemented on primary health care. A sample of 9,094 professionals from all 1,212 primary health care settings in Portugal mainland was obtained from an online questionnaire filled from January and April 2018. Statistical analyses include the estimation of two ordered probits, one explaining self-assessed health and the other the burnout. Results The individual drivers for good health and lower levels of burnout, that is, better well-being, are estimated for GPs and nurses. Main findings support that, first, nurses report worst health than GPs, but the latter tend to suffer higher levels of burnout, and also that, 'place' effects arising from the health unit settings and regional location are more significant in GPs than in nurses. However, urbanization density is not significantly associated with health or burnout. Conclusions A set of policy recommendations are suggested to improve the healthcare workforce well-being, such as improving job satisfaction and income. These policies should be taken at the health care unit level and at the regional administrative level.


Author(s):  
Natasa Mihailovic ◽  
Gergő József Szőllősi ◽  
Nemanja Rancic ◽  
Sándor János ◽  
Klára Boruzs ◽  
...  

Studies in the alcohol consumption area are mostly related to the (ab)use of alcohol in young people. However, today, a growing number of researchers are emphasizing the clinical and public health significance of alcohol consumption in the elderly. In the WHO reports, harmful alcohol consumption is responsible for 5.3% of the global burden of the disease. The aim of this study was to investigate the prevalence of alcohol consumption among men and women aged 55 and over in Serbia and Hungary, leveraging data from the 2013 Serbian National Health Survey and from the 2014 Hungarian National Health Survey. Respondents aged 55 and over were analysed based on logistic multivariate models. The prevalence of alcohol consumption was 41.5% and 62.5% in Serbia and Hungary, respectively. It was higher among men in both countries, but among women, it was significantly higher in Hungary than in Serbia. The statistically significant predictors affecting alcohol consumption in Serbia included age, education, well-being index, long-term disease and overall health status, with marital status being an additional factor among men. In Hungary, education and long-term disease affected alcohol consumption in both sexes, while age and employment were additional factors among women. In both countries for both sexes, younger age, more significantly than primary education and good health, was associated with a higher likelihood of alcohol consumption.


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