WHAT IS MEN’S HEALTH? A DEFINITION

Target of the study

Men’s Health is increasingly coming into force within health research, epidemiology, health care organisa-tion, and health policy. Over the past 10-15 years the EU Men’s Health Report and reports within some countries have publicised problems of health in men. A starting point for the study of men’s health is the defi nition of “Men’s Health”. A group of German experts in the fi eld of men’s health has taken on this task.

Methodology

A literature review in international and national databases was performed for the years 1990-2014 by selected MeSH terms and for “experts in men’s health”. Further research concerned “grey literature” in Germany, especially health reports and web pages. This was followed by a conference of experts to defi ne “Men’s Health” using a modifi ed Delphi method according to W. Zinn. From the expert group, minimum criteria for a defi nition of “Men’s Health”, which must comply with the new defi nition of men’s health, were created and discussed. The fi nal defi nition was created in the third round of the Delphi method. 

Results

The international literature review yielded seven defi nitions of “Men’s Health” in the English literature and fi ve defi nitions in the German literature including within the “grey” literature. The expert group identifi ed seven minimum criteria and fi fteen relevant topics that were needed for a strong defi nition, of which, by weighting, eight criteria were considered relevant for a new defi nition. None of the existing defi nitions could fulfi l these eight criteria. Therefore, in the next step of the expert group a new defi nition “Men’s Health” was elaborated. The defi nition has reference to the WHO concept of “health” and includes dimensions of health and disease, risk and protective factors that require special prevention and care services for all phases of life. All participants in the expert group agreed on the defi nition developed.

Conclusions

The defi nition of Men's Health is a basis for further research and practice to improve men’s health in Ger-many and other countries.

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