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Health status and lifestyle in elderly Hawaii Japanese and Australian men
Author(s) -
Simons Leon A,
Simons Judith,
McCallum John,
Friedlander Yechiel
Publication year - 1992
Publication title -
medical journal of australia
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 0.904
H-Index - 131
eISSN - 1326-5377
pISSN - 0025-729X
DOI - 10.5694/j.1326-5377.1992.tb137084.x
Subject(s) - medicine , diabetes mellitus , gerontology , disease , vitality , risk factor , demography , biology , genetics , sociology , endocrinology
Objective To contrast health status and lifestyle in two elderly populations with differing longevity. Design Comparison of two cross‐sectional data sets. Setting Non‐institutionalised subjects. Subjects Men aged 60‐81 years resident in Dubbo, New South Wales ( n = 1183, 1988–1989) and Japanese men of the same ages resident in Hawaii ( n = 1376, 1980–1982). Main outcome measures Cardiovascular and non‐cardiovascular disease prevalence, risk factors, social and health status. Results A history of heart attack, angina and stroke was twice as prevalent in Dubbo men as in Hawaii Japanese. Other diseases were many times more prevalent in Dubbo — liver disease sixfold, prostate and renal disease twofold, and arthritis 1.5‐fold. Hypercholesterolaemia and untreated hypertension were more prevalent in Dubbo (threefold and 1.5‐fold respectively). Current smoking was similar in both groups, while diabetes was twice as prevalent in the Hawaii Japanese. More Dubbo men were widowed or lived alone, and fewer remained in paid employment. Dubbo men had more limited physical mobility. Conclusions Elderly Dubbo men have an excess of cardiovascular disease and associated risk factors, as well as an excess of non‐cardiovascular disease, compared with Hawaii Japanese. This may account, in part, for a higher total mortality rate in elderly Australians compared with Japanese. Some of this disease burden may be amenable to risk factor intervention.