The investigation of medical and psychosocial problems of geriatric population in the urban area of Madhya Pradesh in India

Abstract

Globally, there are an estimated 605 million people aged 60 years and above. Improvements in health care facilities have brought longevity, which is considered to be one of the greatest achievements of the 20 th century. Objectives: To assess the morbidity pattern in geriatric people. Methodology: A community based cross sectional study. Results: Out of 208 aged 91 (43.7%) were males, 117 (56.25%) were females. Maximum number of males and females were from the age group 60 - 64 years. 117 (56.25%) had chronic problems and 15 (7.2%) acute. Musculo skeleton problem was the commonest (63%) complaint both in males and females, followed by cardio vascular problem (44%). Diabetes mellitus was more common in males than females and hypertension was more common in females than males. Chronic bronchitis was the commonest respiratory disorder in males (8.7%). Total 20 (9.6%) had psychological problems (depression), psychological problems more common in males 11 (12%) than females 9 (7.7%) Conclusion: The present study showed that chronic morbidity in elderly was significantly higher (56.3%) than acute (7.2%), most commonly affected system by chronic morbidity was musculo-skeletal followed by cardio vascular (CVS) and gastrointestinal (GIT). Psychological problems were more common in males (12%) than in females (7.7%). Psychological problems were more in lower socio-economic class-(V) than higher Class [1].