These factors place older adults at risk of worsening health and premature death. There would appear to be a need to develop standards for a health risk appraisal, which includes not only an assessment of current health status but also an evaluation of risk factors for future health outcomes. Am J of Health Promotion Vol. In general, women experience compromised life quality while men experience compromised longevity as they age. The latest figures indicate that the current life expectancies for males is 71.4 years, while for females it is 78.3 years.
Males have higher mortality from all leading causes of death.
Women tend to have more illnesses and lower self-rated health. Gender differences in friendship are particularly marked and, over the years, research has increasingly pointed to the value of a special relationship or confidant in adjusting to the stresses and strains of later life. For women especially, this is also a life course issue in that the presence of a confidant or close friend has been found to be important in terms of social support as well as in the maintenance of psychological well-being and mental health. Moreover, rather than fulfilling this need for a confidant within the marriage relationship, women tend to look to other women or an adult child for this kind of support. Men, by contrast, name their wives as their main source of emotional support and the only person that they talk with about personal problems and difficulties.