[The geographical distribution of women's health problems in Jalisco, Mexico]

The epidemiological studies on women's health, with relation to their geographical distribution (rural and urban), have focused on the areas of fertility and family planning. This work attempts to open up, to a worldwide level of comprehension, the perspectives of the problems related to women's health. It show the results of an investigation of two population groups of women, one in the rural zone, and the other in the urban zone; both groups were from the state of Jalisco, Mexico. The objectives were: to identify the more frequent health problems occurring in women and to establish the similarities and differences between these two female groups. The information was obtained by means of unique interviews using questionnaires. Sociodemographic variables, housing, and sanitation were studied, as well as a health questionnaire which was divided into apparatus and systems. Better sanitary conditions and more favorable sociodemographic indicators were found among women in the urban zone as opposed to those in the rural zone. The most frequent health problems are, in decreasing order, those located in the nervous, digestive, cardiovascular, and genital-urinary systems. There exists a direct relationship between the frequency of health problems and age. Generally, the women most affected are those in the rural zone. It is difficult to establish comparisons with the health conditions of women in other areas due to lack of research that makes differentiations with regard to sex (in this case, those focusing on women). We consider it of interest to continue with insightful investigations of chronic, degenerative, and deficiency problems, as well as those related to self-attention.