Profile of elderly inmates of old age homes of Patan district, Gujarat, India: a cross sectional study

Authors

  • Punit G. Patel Department of Community Medicine, GMERS Medical College, Dharpur, Patan, Gujarat
  • Uday Mohanlal Patel Department of Obstetrics and Gynaecology, GMERS Medical College, Dharpur, Patan, Gujarat
  • Nilesh Thakor Department of Community Medicine, GMERS Medical College, Dharpur, Patan, Gujarat

DOI:

https://doi.org/10.18203/2320-6012.ijrms20150821

Keywords:

Old Age Home, Health Profile, Elderly Inmates, BMI, Geriatric Health

Abstract

Background: Population aging is both a medical as well as a social problem. The situation of the elderly still worsens when there is presence of chronic diseases, physical incapacity and financial stringency. An exceptional increase in the number and proportion of older adults in the country, rapid increase in nuclear families, and contemporary changes in psychosocial matrix and values often compel this segment of society to live alone or in old age homes. The objective of study was to know the medico-social profile of the inmates of an old age homes.

Methods: A descriptive cross sectional study was conducted from January to December 2014 to assess the socio-demographic profile, pattern of morbidities and quality of life of elderly residing in old age homes. Total 4 old age homes and 203 elderly people were included in the study after taking verbal and written consent of the elderly people and permission from the managers of all the old age homes. A semi structured and pretested questionnaire was prepared to collect information on socio-demographic characteristics and morbidity pattern. Data was collected and analyzed by appropriate statistical software.

Results: Around 65% of elderly people were in the age group of 65 to 79 years. 58% of the males and 39.1 % of the females were suffered from cataract, whereas 39.8 of the males and 39.1 % females were suffered from hypertension. Next common morbidity was diabetes present in 28.4 of the males and 18.3 % of the females followed by joint pain present in 20.5% of the males and 23.5% of the females. No significant difference was found among morbidities of the males and females (x2=2.85, p=0.35). 30.8% of the males and 28.75% of the females were hypertensive. Around 27% of the males and 36% of the females were obese and 18% of males and females were pre-obese according to BMI value. There was no significant difference in the BMI among males and females.

Conclusions: The study highlighted a high prevalence of morbidity and health related problems in old age group.

 

References

Ingle GK, Nath A. Concerns and solutions for problems in geriatric health in India. Indian journal of community Medicine. 2008;33:214-8.

Tiwari SC, Pandey NM, Singh I. Mental health problems among inhabitants of old age homes: A preliminary study. Indian J Psychiatry. 2012;54(2):1448.

Park K. Geriatric Health. In, Textbook of Preventive and Social Medicine, 21st edition, Jabalpur, Bhanot Publishers. 2009:547-549.

Joshi K, Kumar R, Avasthi A. Morbidity profile and its relationship with disability and psychological distress among elderly people in Northern India. International Journal of Epidemiology. 2003;32(6):978-87.

Anitha R, Palani G, Sathiyasekaran BWC. Morbidity Profile of Elders in Old Age Homes in Chennai. Natl J Community Med. 2012;3(3):458-64.

Venkatorao T, Ezhil R, Jabbar S, Ramakrishnan R. Preva¬lence of disability and handicaps in geriatric population in rural South India. Indian J Public Health. 2005;49(1):11-7.

Khandekar R, Riyami A, Attiya M, Morsi M. Prevalence and determinants of blindness, low Vision, deafness and major bone fractures among elderly Omani population of Nizwa Wilayat: Indian J Ophthalmol. 2010;58(4):313-9.

Kishore S, Juyal R, Senwal J, Chandra R. Morbidity profile of elderly persons. JK Science. 2007;9(2):87-9.

Kumar R, Ahlawat SK, Singh MM, Thakur JS. Time trends in prevalence of risk factors of cardiovascular diseases in Chandigarh. IAPSM 3 rd. conference (NZ) Chandigarh, 2000.

Chadha SL, Radhakrishna S. Epidemiological study of coronary heart diseases in urban population of Delhi. Indian J Med Research. 1990;92:424-30.

Bhatia SPS, Swami HM, Thakur JS, Bhatia V. A study of health problems and Loneliness Among the Elderly in Chandigarh. IJCM. 2007;32(4):255-8.

Margolis S, Carter T, Dunn EV, Reed RL. The health sta¬tus of community based elderly in the United Arab Emirates. Gerontology and Geriatric. 2003;37(1):1-12.

Sharma MK, Swami HM, Gulati R, Bhatia V, Kumar D. Life style and morbidity profile of geriatric population in urban area of Chandigarh. Journal of The Indian Academy of Geriatrics. 2005;1(3):122-5.

Van Gool CH, Kempen GI, Penninx BW, Deeg DJ, Beekman AT, van Eijk JT. Impact of depression on disablement in late middle aged and older persons: Results from the longitudinal aging study Amsterdam. Social Science and Medicine. 2005;60:25-36.

Medhi GK, Hazarika NC, Borah PK, Mahanta J. Health problems and disability of elderly individuals in two population group from same geographical location. JAPI. 2006;54.

Downloads

Published

2017-01-14

How to Cite

Patel, P. G., Patel, U. M., & Thakor, N. (2017). Profile of elderly inmates of old age homes of Patan district, Gujarat, India: a cross sectional study. International Journal of Research in Medical Sciences, 3(10), 2725–2728. https://doi.org/10.18203/2320-6012.ijrms20150821

Issue

Section

Original Research Articles