OLDER WOMENS HEALTH - TAKING THE PULSE REVEALS GENDER-GAP IN MEDICAL-CARE - A ROUND-TABLE DISCUSSION .1.

In the United States, for every 100 men age 65 and older, there are 14 7 women, a ratio that has social and medical consequences. Five paneli sts ''take the pulse'' of older women's health in general and in the o ffices of primary care physicians in particular. They assess the statu s of medical education and the need to include older women in research and drug trials, issues of gender bias in health insurance and qualit y of treatment, ways to improve the use of preventive health services- such as mammography and Pap smears-by older women, and the role of off ice physicians in identifying and helping victims of domestic violence .