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Gender effect on well-being of the oldest old: a survey of nonagenarians living in Tuscany: the Mugello study

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Abstract

The population of industrialized nations is progressively aging, with Italy having one of the most elderly populations in the world. Natural aging may be associated with physical and cognitive impairments, often straining public resources. The present study aims to investigate the influence of gender on wellness of the nonagenarians. We evaluated quality of life among nonagenarians living in the Mugello area, an Italian location with a large population of individuals > 90 years, using the Health Survey Scoring SF-12. The 15-item Geriatric Depression Scale and Basic and Instrumental Activity of Daily Living scales were also assessed. The Mini-Mental State Examination was used to evaluate the cognitive status. In the current survey, women outnumbered men 2.7:1 confirming their higher longevity. However, on the basis of SF-12 scores, nonagenarian women felt worse than men, both physically (mean: women = 41.8 vs men = 44.4, p = 0.004) and mentally (mean: women = 46.7 vs men =48.5, p = 0.034), and their depression rates were higher: considering a General Depression Scale score ≥ 5 as a possible depression status; 37.5% of men reported depression vs. 48.5% of women (p = 0.021). Significant differences were observed also in daily activities, both basic (median: woman = 3 vs men = 5, p < 0.001) and instrumental (median woman = 1 vs me = 3, p < 0.001). Despite prior reports showing that women perform better than men in aging, our study confirms data reported in most national and European surveys: women live longer than men, but with poorer quality of life. The current study confirms the phenomenon known as the “male-female health-survival paradox.”

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Abbreviations

BADL:

Basic Activity of Daily Living Scale

CI:

confidence interval

DF:

degree of freedom

GDS:

Geriatric Depression Scale

IADL:

Instrumental Activities of Daily Living Scale

IQR:

interquartile range

IRR:

incidence rate ratio

MCS-12:

Health Survey Scoring Short-Form 12 Mental Health Component Summary score

MMSE:

Mini Mental State Examination

OR:

odds ratio

QoL:

quality of life

PCS-12:

Health Survey Scoring Short-Form 12 Physical Health Component Summary score

SD:

standard deviation

SF-12:

Health Survey Scoring Short-Form 12

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Acknowledgements

We would like to thank Dr. Lisa Hobson-Webb for language revision, Dr. Chiara Briani, Dr. Alice Laudisio, and Dr. Silvia Giovannini for their technical support.

Author information

Authors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Geriatrics, Neurosciences and Orthopaedics, Catholic University of Sacred Heart, Rome, Italy

    Luca Padua

  2. Don Carlo Gnocchi Foundation Onlus, Piazzale Morandi n.6, 20121, Milan, Italy

    Luca Padua, Daniele Coraci, Isabella Imbimbo & Claudia Loreti

  3. Service of Medical Statistics and Information Technology (SeSMIT), Fatebenefratelli, Hospital-Isola Tiberina, Rome, Italy

    Patrizio Pasqualetti, Alessandro Giordani & Ilaria Simonelli

  4. Board of Physical Medicine and Rehabilitation, Department of Orthopaedic Science, “Sapienza” University, Rome, Italy

    Daniele Coraci

  5. Center for Neuropsychological Research, Institute of Neurology of the Policlinico Gemelli, Catholic University of Rome, Rome, Italy

    Camillo Marra

  6. Don Carlo Gnocchi Onlus Foundation, Florence, Italy

    Raffaello Molino-Lova, Guido Pasquini, Federica Vannetti & Claudio Macchi

  7. Institute of Cognitive Sciences and Technologies, National Research Council of Italy, Rome, Italy

    Ilaria Simonelli

  8. Department of Experimental and Clinical Medicine, University of Florence, Florence, Italy

    Claudio Macchi

Authors
  1. Luca Padua
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Consortia

for the Mugello Study Working Group

  • Guglielmo Bonaccorsi
  • , Roberta Boni
  • , Chiara Castagnoli
  • , Francesca Cecchi
  • , Francesca Cesari
  • , Francesco Epifani
  • , Roberta Frandi
  • , Betti Giusti
  • , Maria Luisa Eliana Luisi
  • , Rossella Marcucci
  • , Anita Paperini
  • , Lorenzo Razzolini
  • , Francesco Sofi
  • , Nona Turcan
  •  & Debora Valecchi

Corresponding author

Correspondence to Luca Padua.

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The authors declare that they have no conflict of interest.

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Informed consent was obtained from all individual participants included in the study.

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Padua, L., Pasqualetti, P., Coraci, D. et al. Gender effect on well-being of the oldest old: a survey of nonagenarians living in Tuscany: the Mugello study. Neurol Sci 39, 509–517 (2018). https://doi.org/10.1007/s10072-017-3223-z

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s10072-017-3223-z

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