Study on morbidity pattern among elderly in urban population of Mysore, Karnataka, India

Abstract

Background: The reduction in fertility level, reinforced by steady increase in the life expectancy has produced fundamental changes in the age structure of the population, which in turn leads to the ageing population. Aim: To know the morbidity pattern of the elderly in urban population of Mysore, delineate the common health conditions affecting the elderly and evaluate the differences in the morbidity pattern between the young old and old old. Material and Methods: This community based Cross sectional study was carried out at the field practice area of Urban Health Centre, JSS medical college, Mysore. The study population comprises of all geriatric population aged 60 years and above who were residing in the study area for at least one year. 526 study subjects were used for the study. Results: Most of the system disorders were found to be almost equally distributed among elderly men and women. Disorders of oral cavity were more prevalent among aged males (40.6%), while diseases of skin were more prevalent among aged females (10.0%). Most common disorder reported among elderly were diseases of the eye (51.7%) followed by endocrine, nutritional and metabolic diseases (38.4%). Conclusion: Awareness among the elderly population should be created for regular medical check-ups to ensure prevention and early detection of the chronic diseases. There is a need to have geriatric wards having specialised professionals with psychiatric and medical social workers along with subsidized health care services in order to address geriatric morbid conditions in a proper manner.

Keywords: Morbidity, elderly, system disorders, urban