The Gerontologist, Vol 30, Issue 2 262-268, Copyright © 1990 by The Gerontological Society of America

ARTICLES

Use and evaluation of health services by women in a developing country: is age important?

PM Keith and KA Wickrama
Department of Sociology, Iowa State University, Ames 50011.

Today, the majority of the world's older persons live in less developed countries, where they represent an increasing proportion of the population. Using interviews conducted with 136 female heads of households in rural Sri Lanka, we considered the importance of age relative to other factors (e.g., marital status, education, employment, diet, and health practices) in accounting for use and evaluation of health services. Marital status figured more importantly than age in the use of services. As unmarried heads of households increase in less developed places, their demands for health care at the village level likely will escalate.