The Older Men's Health Program and Screening Inventory: a tool for assessing health practices and beliefs.

Men experience greater health risks, poorer health, and shorter life expectancy than women.(1) However, a systematic literature review revealed no measure to assess the health practices and beliefs of elderly men. In response, the Older Men's Health Program and Screening Inventory (OMHPSI) was developed. Nursing practice experience and a review of literature informed instrument development. Subsequent to an expert panel survey and pilot-testing, the OMHPSI was completed by 135 community-dwelling older men and found to be an informative baseline assessment tool congruent with the Healthy People 2010 goal of increasing elders' participation in organized health promotion activities.(2) Furthermore, several statistically significant correlations were found between items on the OMHPSI and demographic variables. Of particular note, the younger participants in this study experienced more barriers to health-promoting behaviors (P < or =.01), had less healthy lifestyles (P < or =.05), and were less satisfied with their health behaviors (P < or =.001) compared with their older counterparts.