Profile of morbidity among elderly at home health care service in Southern Saudi Arabia

BACKGROUND: This study aimed to determine the profile of morbidity among elderly registered at home health care service in the Armed Forces Hospital of Southern Region, Kingdom of Saudi Arabia. MATERIALS AND METHODS: A retrospective study was conducted (over a period of 6 months during year 2011) and data was collected by reviewing of medical records of all elderly patients of elderly. RESULTS: The total number of elderly ≥ 60 years were 880. The most prevalent morbidity is hypertension (59.1%) followed by diabetes mellitus (57.3%), stroke (34.9%), dementia (28.5%), osteoarthritis (24.2%) and Alzheimer (21.4%). Females are at higher risks of having many types elderly diseases compared to males. The highest risk was for obesity (OR = 9.1; 95% CI = 3.51- 12.8), followed by osteoporosis (OR = 8.7; 95% CI = 15.10 – 9.13) and fracture neck femur (OR = 3.9; 95 CI = 2.11 – 6.91). In addition, females were also at higher risks of having Osteoarthritis and thyroid disorder. On the other hand, males are more susceptible to hypertension (OR = 1.4; 95 % CI = 1.07 – 1.85), stroke (OR = 1.3; 95 % CI = 1.08 – 1.89) and renal diseases (OR = 2.4; 95% CI = 1.25 – 4.54). CONCLUSION: It is concluded that there is a great need for preventive, curative and rehabilitative program in order to introduce high quality of health care services to elderly.