Analyzing Socio-Economic and Geographical Factors that Affect the Health of the Elderly

The aim of the current research is mainly to investigate socio-economic indicators that affect the health status of the elderly. Specific objectives are the recording of the current profile of the elderly and the investigation of the perception of the health status by elderly, the proportion of older people suffering from health problems, their most common health problems, the percentage of elderly whose health status affects their life quality, the overall life quality of elderly, and the degree of correlation of socio-economic indicators to the quality of life of elderly. A sample of 897 questionnaires, collected from a number of open elderly care centers in Greece, was the basis of the current survey. The collected data concerning the location of certain health problems and aspects of perceived general health and perceived quality of life of participants were located automatically in geographic maps as geographic information systems (GIS), in order to be shared and analyzed easily. There is almost complete coincidence of our research findings and their statistical analysis with the theoretical approaches of the related literature, with the exception of the relation of marital status with the perception of the quality of life. Direct geographic mapping aims at identifying health problems and socio-economic indicators of the elderly in Greece and transferring information to healthcare professionals in order to impose proper control measures in a very small period of time.