Abstract :
Background: India is an aging nation. Though increase in aging population represents the success of socioeconomic development and good public health practice, it has also lead to economic and social crisis due to increased demand for health and welfare services.
Aims and Objectives: To determine the prevalence of morbidity pattern and to assess the association between socio-demographic factors and the morbidities among geriatric population.
Materials and Methods: A cross sectional observational study was conducted for a period of 6 months. 500 willing geriatric subjects were subjected to history, brief clinical examination and questionnaire. Details collected were tabulated and analysed using appropriate statistical tools.
Results: In our study, 309 people (61.8%) were between 60-69 years of age, 153 (30.6%)were between 70-79 years, 38 people(7.6%)were above 80 years of age. Among 500 people, 273(54.6%) were males and 227(45.4%) were females. In our study group, 81.2% had Dental problems, 57% had hypertension, 54.2% were diabetic, 53.8% had cataract , 45.6% had hearing impairment, 39.4%had CAD, 39% had osteoarthritis, 35.2% were depressed, 30.8%were anaemic , 27.8% had dementia, 24% had COPD, 11.2% had thyroid disorder, 8% had cancer, 7.8% had CVA, 7.2% had Parkinson disease, 5.6% had epilepsy, 5.2%
had CKD, 2.2% suffered from CLD, 1.4%had bronchial asthma, 1.2% had TB.
Conclusion: This knowledge on prevalence of different co morbidities in the community and their association with various socio demographic factors is required to improve the delivery of health care to the elderly and make aging more graceful.
Keyword :
Aging, Comorbidities, Geriatric population, Socio demographic factors.