Factors associated with the use of the health services by elderly men: a systematic review of the literature/Fatores associados a utilizacao dos servicos de saude por homens idosos: uma revisao sistematica da literatura

A systematic review of the literature on analytical epidemiologic studies about factors associated with the use of health services by elderly men was conducted. Four databases were researched, namely PubMed, Scopus, Web of Science and Lilacs and the following key words "health services," "health services for the aged," "aged," "aged 80 and over" "men" and "men's health" and their corresponding expressions in Portuguese were used. After independent reading and selection of the abstracts and full texts of the 1782 articles located, only eight were included in this review. The Health Services Utilization model assisted in the presentation of the results. Predisposing factors associated with regard to the use of the healthcare services were identified: place of residence; lifestyle habits; age bracket; family history; education and marital status; training factors: private health services use and affiliation to a health insurance plan; effective factors of need; perception of health status; perceived susceptibility to stress; medical history; comorbidities; and functional status. The issue of aging among the male population is still poorly studied and deserves special attention to establish how elderly men express their needs and how they are being assisted by healthcare systems. Key words Health services for the elderly, Men's health, Review Foi conduzida uma revisao sistematica da literatura de estudos epidemiologicos analiticos sobre os fatores associados a utilizacao dos servicos de saude por homens idosos. Foram utilizadas quatro bases de dados, PubMed, Scopus, Web of Science e Lilacs, e os seguintes descritores "servicos de saude", "servicos de saude para idosos", "idoso", "idoso de 80 anos ou mais", "homem" e "saude do homem" e seus correspondentes na lingua inglesa. Foram encontrados 1.782 artigos, e apos selecao com leitura independente de resumos e artigos completos, oito foram incluidos na revisao. O modelo de Utilizacao dos Servicos de Saude guiou a apresentacao dos resultados. Foram identificados como fatores predisponentes associados ao uso: local de residencia, habitos de vida, faixa etaria, historia familiar, educacao e estado civil; fatores de capacitacao: utilizacao de servico privado de saude e posse de seguro de saude; por fim, fatores de necessidade: percepcao do estado de saude, susceptibilidade percebida ao stress, historico medico, comorbidades e status funcional. A tematica do envelhecimento da populacao masculina ainda e pouco estudad