Logo image
Back
Living with a ‘women's disease’: risk appraisal and management among men with osteoporosis
Journal article   Peer reviewed

Living with a ‘women's disease’: risk appraisal and management among men with osteoporosis

Samantha L Solimeo
Journal of men's health (Amsterdam), Vol.8(3), pp.185-191
2011
DOI: 10.1016/j.jomh.2011.06.001
PMCID: PMC3223980
PMID: 22125585
url
https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/3223980View
Open Access

Abstract

There is clear evidence that men suffer from osteoporosis (OP) in increasing numbers, but that men commonly remain underdiagnosed, undertreated and experience poorer outcomes than do women. The widespread sociocultural association of OP with postmenopausal women reflects their greater risk for developing the disorder, but the sexing of OP as a women's disease disadvantages at-risk men. This paper reports on qualitative data gathered from 23 community-residing men who have an OP diagnosis. Interviews with men reveal that the sexing of OP as a female disease may affect men's risk appraisal. Men clearly associate OP risk factors with women and accordingly may feel protected from the disorder. Subsequent to diagnosis, men's OP-related risk management strategies reveal that men's gender identity constrains their ability to enact risk-reducing behavior. Men may internalize the association of OP with women and incorporate it into a sense of perceived invulnerability to the condition, which, in turn, contributes to delayed diagnosis and treatment. Limited male-specific treatment and support options as well as social expectations of male gender performance play roles in men's health behavior.
 Qualitative research Osteoporosis Risk assessment Risk reduction behavior Men Risk management Male breast cancer

Details

Metrics

13 Record Views
15 Times Cited - Web of Science
Logo image