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When comparingArizona?s oldermales toArizona?s older females, the onlydifference that was
statistically significant was for the percentage classified as overweight or obese based onBMI. A
significantlyhigher percentage ofArizona?smales age 65 and olderwere either overweight or
obese (Est. =68.8%, 95%C.I. = .65-.73) thanArizona?s older females (Est. =53.4%, 95%C.I. =
.50-.57).While statistically significant, BMI is a crudemeasure of one?s body composition that
does not account for factors such asmusclemass or bone density thatmayvarybygender.
Though this difference does raise some concern that Arizona?s oldermalesmaybe at risk for
weight-related health issues, it also should be interpreted cautiouslydue to the imprecision of
BMI as ameasure of healthyweight, whichmaydiffer formales and females.
Morbidity amongArizonans Age 65 andOlder
Table 4 providesweighted estimated percentageswith standard errors for 12 common
morbidities faced byolder adults reported forArizona and theU.S. bygender. These estimates
are included inFigure 7 formales, Figure 8 for females, andFigure 9 comparesArizona?s older
males toArizona?s older females.
BeginningwithArizonamales age 65 and older in 2012, about 4 percent reported havingpoor
mental health all 30 days prior to being interviewed. In contrast, approximately28 percent of
Arizonamales age 65 and older reported experiencingpoor physical health all 30 days prior to
being interviewed. About 29 percent ofArizona?s oldermales reported activity limitations due to
health problems (physical,mental, or emotional), and about 14 percent reported health problems
requiring the use of special equipment such as a cane, wheelchair, or special bed. The estimates
forArizonamales on these health indicatorswere similar to national estimates.
Figure 5.
Estimates of PopulationMorbiditywith 95%Confidence Intervals, Arizona and
National FemalesAge 65 andOlder, BRFSS 2012
Notes: * indicates statistically significant difference at
p
< .05 level.
