GENDER DIFFERENCES IN PARTICIPATION AND RESPONSIVENESS TO A HEALTH INTERVENTION FOR OLDER AMERICANS

Women increasingly outnumber men in the US population (Arber & Ginn, 1 993), but most research has been conducted with men (Stacey & Olesen, 1988). The purpose of this study was to determine whether older men an d women differ in their participation rates and in their responsivenes s to a health intervention. Three hundred sixty-three health maintenan ce organization members with osteoarthritis, 60 years of age or older, were randomly assigned to a control group or to receive social suppor t, education, or a combination of education and social support. Of the 363 randomly assigned members, 245 completed all of the follow-up ass essments. Men and women volunteered in proportion to their representat ion in the osteoarthritis population. Although the genders differed in several ways, the interventions were equally effective for men and wo men, and the study results applied to both genders.