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

CONTEXT: 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. AIMS: To study Morbidity profile of geriatric population in Uttarakhand. SETTINGS AND DESIGN: 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. METHODS AND MATERIALS: Predesigned, pretested and semistructured questionnaire was used to collect information on sociodemographic characteristics and morbidity status of study participants. STATISTICAL ANALYSIS USED: Data was entered into excel sheets and analyzed using SPSS version 23 utilizing appropriate statistical methods. RESULTS: 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. CONCLUSIONS: 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.