Hitaite Lina, Spirgiene Lina
Garliava Hospital, the branch of Kaunas District Hospital, Garliava, Lithuania.
Medicina (Kaunas). 2007;43(11):903-8.
The aim of this study was to evaluate the need of the elderly for outpatient nursing and social services in Kaunas district.
The object of the study was elderly people (aged 65 years and more) living in Kaunas district. A questionnaire was used for interviewing. The sample was randomly selected from the lists of people registered at the primary health care centers (including outpatient departments and medical aid centers). A total of 390 inhabitants were investigated who represent all the elderly of Kaunas district. The independence of the respondents was evaluated by the standard tests (the Barthel Index and Mini-Mental State Examination).
The respondents reported that 71.3% of them needed nursing and 58.2% social services. The need for the services was higher in older age group. The rural elderly reported higher need for social services (64.3%) than the urban elderly (49.6%). Less than half (45.9%) of respondents referred having problems visiting the general practitioner. Majority of the respondents (86.4%) pointed out that those who took care of them had no special medical training. Totally or almost totally dependent respondents (groups by Barthel Index) needed social (88.0%) and nursing (96.0%) services. Majority of respondents (79.2%) preferred to be cared at home.
More than half of the elderly needed both nursing and social services. The need for social services differently from nursing services was influenced by the living place of the respondents; the rural elderly needed services more than the urban elderly.
本研究旨在评估考纳斯地区老年人对门诊护理和社会服务的需求。
研究对象为居住在考纳斯地区的老年人（65岁及以上）。采用问卷调查进行访谈。样本从初级卫生保健中心（包括门诊部和医疗救助中心）登记的人员名单中随机抽取。共调查了390名居民，他们代表了考纳斯地区所有的老年人。通过标准测试（巴氏指数和简易精神状态检查表）评估受访者的自理能力。
受访者表示，71.3%的人需要护理服务，58.2%的人需要社会服务。年龄较大的人群对服务的需求更高。农村老年人对社会服务的需求（64.3%）高于城市老年人（49.6%）。不到一半（45.9%）的受访者表示看全科医生有困难。大多数受访者（86.4%）指出，照顾他们的人没有接受过专业医疗培训。完全或几乎完全依赖他人的受访者（按巴氏指数分组）需要社会服务（88.0%）和护理服务（96.0%）。大多数受访者（79.2%）希望在家中接受照顾。
超过一半的老年人既需要护理服务也需要社会服务。与护理服务不同，社会服务的需求受受访者居住地点的影响；农村老年人比城市老年人更需要服务。
