Morbidity pattern and health-seeking behaviour among the senior citizens in a selected urban area of Bangladesh: A cross-sectional study

Abstract

Elderly people suffer from different morbidities as the increase in prevalence of disease is proportionate to increasing age. In Bangladesh, the number of the elderly person is increasing with time. This study aims to determine the morbidity pattern and health seeking behavior among the urban senior citizens of Bangladesh. A cross -sectional study was carried out from January 2014 to December 2014 in different areas of Dhaka City. Information was collected from 384 respondents, aged 60 years and above by purposive sampling technique. The mean age of the study population was 64.7 (SD±5.7) years and majority (74.74%) belonged to 60-69 years age group. More than half (52.6%) of the respondents were female. Most of the respondents (71.61%) received institutional education; 51.82% of the elderly were still working; 63% of the respondents were totally independent; 11.74% were totally dependent; and 53.65% respondents belonged to joint family. Most of the respondents (96.8%) were suffering from at least one medical problem; the commonest was musculoskeletal problems (84.11%) followed by eye problems (81.25%). Majority of male (78.8%) and females (89.60%) were suffering from eye problems and musculoskeletal problems respectively. All the respondents sought treatment for their health problems. Majority (33%) respondents went to government hospitals for medical help. Most of the male (68.70%) and female (71.26%) can do their daily physical activities without any problem. Approximately 30% respondents did health check-up once in one year. Majority respondents took prescribed medications (69.27%) and were satisfied with their treatment (56.77%). The study findings showed that urban geriatric population had one or more morbidities and their health seeking behavior was poor, more among females. The study concludes with further emphasis of primary health care for the urban elderly people of Bangladesh. The health care service should be accessible and affordable to the elderly people.

Morbidities and Health-Seeking Behavior of Elderly Patients Attending Primary Health Care in the Kingdom of Bahrain

“…Hypertension was found to be the most common chronic disease. This finding was consistent with previous studies from the United Arab Emirates (UAE)[ 2 ] and the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia,[ 4 ] collectively highlighting the commonality of hypertension within the GCC region. The next most prevalent chronic diseases were hyperlipidemia and T2DM.…”

“…The key themes of the questions regarding the profile and health-seeking behavior of elderly patients attending health care services were meant to be non-leading. [ 4 ] The researchers used their combined expertise of often-encountered challenges in the elderly primary care health services in Bahrain to construct the questions.…”

“…[ 1 , 2 ] Health status impacts the quality of life,[ 3 ] with an increase in the number of morbidities resulting in a decrease in the health-related quality of life. [ 4 ]…”

study of healthcare utilization and perception of adequacy of healthcare by elderly in the rural population of coastal Karnataka

“…In India, as per 2001 census the population of elderly was 76.6 million as compared to 20 million in 1951. 1,2,3 The absolute number of 60 years and over in India will likely to increase to 137 million by 2021 (United Nations,2003). The decadal growth rate among elderly population during 1991-2001 was about 40 percent, which is double than the general population growth of 21 percent.…”

Morbidity Pattern among the Elderly People in a Selected Rural Area

“…Distribution of chronic conditions and multimorbidity couldn't be known due to little information. 7 Multimorbidity is defined as simultaneous occurrence of several adverse medical conditions in the same person. 5 The economics of the rural Bangladesh settings are predominantly supported by subsistence agriculture.…”