Factors associated with the demand for health services from a gender-relational perspective

Male culture values involve risk behaviors to health, since the way men perceive and experience their masculinity is one of the most influential shapers of falling sick and dying. The scope of this study was to identify the factors associated with the demand for health services and differences between the sexes by selecting users of health services. The dependent variables were sex of the user (cultural indicator) and failure to seek out health services. Independent variables included socio-demographic and clinical-epidemiological characteristics. The Prevalence Ratio studied by univariate and multivariate analysis was used in the analysis of the association between variables. The factors associated with non-demand for health services included: being male, hours of operation of health care facilities, working hours of the user and not having any disease. By multivariate analysis the factors facilitating demand for health services (protection) were: being female aged 26 to 49 years. Effective consolidation of a health care model that questions the contradiction that exists between the epidemiological data regarding men's health and the position of the health services using common sense regarding the apparent invulnerability of men to falling sick is of great relevance.