Health and social problems of the elderly: A cross-sectional study in Udupi Taluk, Karnataka

Abstract

Background:Change in socio-economic status and various health problems adversely affect an individual's way of life during old age.Objectives:To study the health and social problems of the elderly and their attitude towards life.Materials and Methods:Descriptive study carried out in the Field practice area of the Department of Community Medicine in South India. A total of 213 elderly patients (60 years old and above) who attended the outreach clinics were interviewed using a pre-tested schedule. Findings were described in terms of proportions and percentages to study the socio-economic status of the samples and its correlation to social problems.Results:Around 73% of the patients belonged to the age group of 60-69 years old. Nearly half of the respondents were illiterate. Around 48% felt they were not happy in life. A majority of them had health problems such as hypertension followed by arthritis, diabetes, asthma, cataract, and anemia. About 68% of the patients said that the attitude of people towards the elderly was that of neglect.Conclusions:The results of the study showed that there is a need for geriatric counseling centers that can take care of their physical and psychological needs. The stringent rules for eligibility to social security schemes should be made more flexible to cover a larger population.

A cross-sectional study of morbidity and social profile of geriatric population in Singanodi sub centre, Raichur, Karnataka, India

“…Banker K et al, Lena et al and Shankar R et al reported joint pains to be 60.2%, 41.3% & 57.8% respectively. 5,10,12 Cataract and hearing impairment constituted 24.8% and 10.7% respectively, similar finding was reported by Purthy AJ where prevalence of cataract was 24.6% and hearing impairment was 14.3%.…”

“…The present study was conducted rural area, in which majority (70.8%) were in the age group of 60-69 years and females constituted large part of study subjects (62.2%).Similar observations were noted in various studies done by Sushma Tiwari et al, Lina et al and Anita Rani et al [9][10][11] Most of study subjects were illiterates (94.5%) and were currently employed (67.8%). However study by Srinivasan et al & Lena et al reported illiteracy to be 4.8% & 45.1% respectively.…”

“…However study by Srinivasan et al & Lena et al reported illiteracy to be 4.8% & 45.1% respectively. 4,10 Most of the study subjects were married (63.2%) and belonged to joint family (80.1%), Srinivasan et al reported similar finding were married elderly constituted 71.1% and 63.2% were belonging to joint family. 4 As this study was conducted in rural setting low socio-economic status, illiteracy and joint family system are expected to be high.…”

“…84% were satisfied with present living conditions in our study, similar finding of 98.4% was seen by Srinivasan et al in study conducted in suburban area of Bangalore. 4,10 Almost 21% of study subjects in this were dependent on some or other assistive devices like spectacles, walking sticks etc. unlike in the study conducted by Srinivasan et al which reported that 88.5% were dependent on assistive devices.…”

A cross-sectional study on morbidity pattern of elderly population residing in a rural area of Tripura

“…Rapid socio-demographic changes like urbanization, nuclearization of family, migration and dual career families are making care of the elderly more and more of a personal and social problem in India. 4 Beyond biological changes, ageing is also associated with other life transitions such as retirement, relocation to more appropriate housing, and the death of friends and partners. 2,3 The growth of the elderly population present a new challenge to health system and social support networks in many less developed countries where populations are becoming old before they become wealthy.…”