Study on morbidity pattern among elderly in urban area of Barpeta, Assam, India

BACKGROUND: Degenerative diseases most commonly affect the elderly. The management of these chronic diseases is also very expensive, thereby making it out-of-pocket expenditure for elderly persons. As the elderly population is likely to increase in the future, the concept of active and healthy aging needs to be promoted among the elderly. OBJECTIVES: To estimate the morbidity pattern of the elderly in an urban population of Barpeta, and to evaluate the different morbidity patterns of the young old and old old. METHODS: The study was conducted in eight urban wards of Barpeta town using multistage sampling. From the urban wards, 150 elderly persons were selected according to proportionate to the size of the urban wards. Pretested and predesigned proforma was used to assess the morbidity pattern of the elderly. RESULT: Most of the system disorders were almost equally distributed among elderly males and females. Most common disorders were diseases of the eye and adnexa (46%) followed endocrine, nutritional, and metabolic (37.3%) diseases, and disease of the circulatory system (34.7%). Diseases of the respiratory system (10.1%) and genitourinary system (10.1%) were more common in males, whereas cataract (29.6%) and hearing impairment (9.9%) were more common in females. CONCLUSION: The prevalence of morbidity increases with increasing age. Early detection of morbidities among elderly and timely referral to secondary or tertiary care facilities by enhancing the capacity of primary health care providers are required to promote active and healthy aging.