Trends in health status and health care use among older women.

Abstract

Maintaining good health enables older people to remain independent, stay socially engaged, and enjoy a good quality of life. Older women, however, face distinctly different challenges to maintaining their health compared with older men. Older women live longer, develop different chronic conditions, and experience a higher prevalence of functional limitations than older men. Awareness of these differences may enable the health care needs of older women to be addressed more effectively.