A study of morbidity profile among geriatric population in Uttarakhand: A community based cross-sectional study.

Abstract

Population of elderly in India is growing day by day. Elderly population of India is 8.6% and in Uttarakhand it is 8.9%. Health needs of geriatric people differs from others. This study was an attempt to study the morbidity profile of geriatric people that may serve as a baseline data and also help in planning the health services. To study Morbidity profile of geriatric population in Uttarakhand. A community-based cross-sectional study was conducted among geriatric people in rural and urban areas of Uttarakhand. Study participants aged 60 years and above were included in the study and a sample size of 400 was calculated. Predesigned, pretested and semistructured questionnaire was used to collect information on sociodemographic characteristics and morbidity status of study participants. Data was entered into excel sheets and analyzed using SPSS version 23 utilizing appropriate statistical methods. Among 400 elderly people most common organ system affected was musculoskeletal (77.20%). Other commonly affected health systems were psychological (75.90%), digestive (73.60%), eye (56.67%), endocrine (35.90%), cardiovascular (33.08%), general and unspecified health problems (32.05%), ear (24.62%) and respiratory system (19.74%). Very few elderlies had neurological (6.67%) and urological (1.28%) problems. As shown in the present study very high percentage of morbidities were found in the study population. As a result, there is a need to further strengthen existing geriatric health care services at primary, secondary and tertiary level.