Age and Sex as Factors that Influence the Human Health

The study aimed to describe the prevalence of some health problems with a genetic component and to analyze their relationships with age and sex specificity. The sample size of the investigation included more than 900 persons aged 16-90 years (average age 32.3 years). Using a self-reported questionnaire, data were collected about the presence or absence of a physician- diagnosed health problem such as high blood pressure, migraine, allergies and refractive disorders (myopia and astigmatism). The data were analyzed through the IBM SPSS Statistics software package, version 22.0. Descriptive statistics analyses (frequencies, crosstabs) and the χ2-test were used. The prevalence of high blood pressure, migraine, allergies, myopia and astigmatism within the whole sample were 9.9%, 10.4%, 21.1%, 29.0% and 22.4%, respectively. High blood pressure and myopia have been found to be in statistically significant relations with the age of the individuals. In this aspect, data showed that the older people (aged 56 years or more) have more problems connected with the both diseases. Migraine, astigmatism and myopia have been found to be in statistically significant associations with the sex of the individuals and are expressed in a higher percentage of women in comparison with men. Due to the complexity of these interactions, and in order to better understand them, their dynamics needs research and analysis in the course of ontogenesis. In view of this, it is important to note that further targeted studies are needed to clarify the joint impact of age, sex and environmental factors on the human health status.