Gender Score Development in the Berlin Aging Study II : A Retrospective Approach

In addition to biological sex, gender, defined as the sociocultural dimension of being a woman or a man, plays a central role in health. However, there are so far few approaches to quantify gender in a retrospective manner in existing study datasets. We therefore aimed to develop a methodology that...

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Bibliographic Details
Published in:Biology of sex differences 2021-01, Vol.12 (12), p.15-10, Article 15
Main Authors: Nauman, Ahmad Tauseef, Behlouli, Hassan, Alexander, Nicholas, Kendel, Friederike, Drewelies, Johanna, Mantantzis, Konstantinos, Berger, Nora, Wagner, Gert G, Gerstorf, Denis, Demuth, Ilja, Pilote, Louise, Regitz-Zagrosek, Vera
Format: Article
Language:English
Subjects:
Acute coronary syndromes
Aged
Aging
Analysis
BASE-II
Berlin Aging Study II
Disease
Female
Females
Gender
Gender identity
Gender relations
Gender score
Gerontology
Health care access
Humans
Institutionalization
Male
Males
Methods
Middle Aged
Neurosis
Neuroticism
Personality
Questionnaires
Retrospective Studies
Sex
Sex Characteristics
Sex roles
Social aspects
Society
Stress (Psychology)
Variables
Womens health
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Summary:In addition to biological sex, gender, defined as the sociocultural dimension of being a woman or a man, plays a central role in health. However, there are so far few approaches to quantify gender in a retrospective manner in existing study datasets. We therefore aimed to develop a methodology that can be retrospectively applied to assess gender in existing cohorts. We used baseline data from the Berlin Aging Study II (BASE-II), obtained in 2009–2014 from 1869 participants aged 60 years and older. We identified 13 gender-related variables and used them to construct a gender score by using primary component and logistic regression analyses. Of these, nine variables contributed to a gender score: chronic stress, marital status, risk-taking behaviour, personality attributes: agreeableness, neuroticism, extraversion, loneliness, conscientiousness, and level of education. Females and males differed significantly in the distribution of the gender score, but a significant overlap was also found. Thus, we were able to develop a gender score in a retrospective manner from already collected data that characterized participants in addition to biological sex. This approach will allow researchers to introduce the notion of gender retrospectively into a large number of studies.
ISSN:2042-6410
2042-6410
DOI:10.1186/s13293-020-00351-2