TY - JOUR
T1 - Differences in reporting somatic complaints in elDerly by education level
AU - Stankunas, Mindaugas
AU - Soares, Joaquim F J
AU - Stankuniene, Aurima
AU - Gabriella Melchiorre, M.
AU - Torres-Gonzales, Francisco
AU - Ioannidi-Kapolou, Elisabeth
AU - Barros, Henrique
AU - LinDert, Jutta
PY - 2013/2
Y1 - 2013/2
N2 - Aim: To evaluate the association between somatic complaints and education level among elDers in selected European countries. Methods: Cross-sectional study among randomly selected community dwelling persons aged 60-84 years from seven cities in Europe: Ancona (Italy), Athens (Greece), Granada (Spain), Kaunas (Lithuania), Stuttgart (Germany), Porto (Portugal) and Stockholm (Sweden). Somatic complaints were measured with the 24-item version of the Giessen Complaint List (GBB-24). A regression analysis was done to investigate the association between education and somatic complaints. Results. The mean GBB-24 scale was 16.3±14.9. The most common complaints were pain in joints and limbs (29.6%), back-pain (24.1%), heaviness or tiredness in the legs (19.1%) and general tiredness (15.7%). Respondents with less than primary education reported higher levels of somatic symptoms compared to those with university degree. A regression analysis showed that higher education (OR=0.69) and being male (OR=0.48) were associated with a decreased risk for high levels of somatic complaints, and the opposite for olDer age (OR=1.03) and being single/divorced/window (OR=1.28). Conclusions: The results indicate that less educated elDers are more likely to expressed somatic complaints.
AB - Aim: To evaluate the association between somatic complaints and education level among elDers in selected European countries. Methods: Cross-sectional study among randomly selected community dwelling persons aged 60-84 years from seven cities in Europe: Ancona (Italy), Athens (Greece), Granada (Spain), Kaunas (Lithuania), Stuttgart (Germany), Porto (Portugal) and Stockholm (Sweden). Somatic complaints were measured with the 24-item version of the Giessen Complaint List (GBB-24). A regression analysis was done to investigate the association between education and somatic complaints. Results. The mean GBB-24 scale was 16.3±14.9. The most common complaints were pain in joints and limbs (29.6%), back-pain (24.1%), heaviness or tiredness in the legs (19.1%) and general tiredness (15.7%). Respondents with less than primary education reported higher levels of somatic symptoms compared to those with university degree. A regression analysis showed that higher education (OR=0.69) and being male (OR=0.48) were associated with a decreased risk for high levels of somatic complaints, and the opposite for olDer age (OR=1.03) and being single/divorced/window (OR=1.28). Conclusions: The results indicate that less educated elDers are more likely to expressed somatic complaints.
KW - ABUEL
KW - Education
KW - ElDerly
KW - Europe
KW - GBB-24
KW - Somatic complaints
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U2 - 10.2478/s11536-012-0093-x
DO - 10.2478/s11536-012-0093-x
M3 - Article
AN - SCOPUS:84871316811
VL - 8
SP - 125
EP - 131
JO - Central European Journal of Medicine
JF - Central European Journal of Medicine
SN - 1895-1058
IS - 1
ER -