Sanjel S, Mudbhari N, Risal A, Khanal K
Department of Community Medicine, Kathmandu University School of Medical Sciences, Dhulikhel Hospital, Nepal.
Kathmandu Univ Med J (KUMJ). 2012 Jan-Mar;10(37):34-9. doi: 10.3126/kumj.v10i1.6911.
Population ageing is a common problem faced in many countries world-wide. Due to physiological and biochemical changes in the elderly, increased incidence of diseases is observed. There is often low use of health services by the elderly for a variety of reasons.
To examine the status of health care utilization and to determine the factors associated with utilization of health care among the elderly population of Dhulikhel Municipality.
A quantitative descriptive-cross sectional study, with a total number of 200 elderly people residing in Dhulikhel Municipality, was selected for the study. Data were collected across the months of June - July 2011 applying two-staged cluster and systematic random sampling method. Both descriptive and inferential statistics were measured.
Sixty eight percent of the elderly visited medical personnel in the past year. Eight percent of them visited the emergency department where most of them reported with symptoms attributed to heart disease. Among 200 elderly, 12.5% of them were admitted to the hospital and 53.0% utilized diagnostic services. Age, marital status, activities of daily living, and regular medication showed significant association with health services utilization at 95% level of confidence (p >0.05).
Marital status, daily living habits, existence of chronic disease, and regular medication demonstrated significant association with the utilization of health care. Social support services, informal education, and awareness programs targeting the senior citizens and studies covering a diverse population are recommended.
人口老龄化是世界上许多国家面临的一个普遍问题。由于老年人的生理和生化变化，疾病发病率有所上升。老年人因各种原因往往较少使用医疗服务。
研究杜利凯尔市老年人群的医疗保健利用状况，并确定与医疗保健利用相关的因素。
采用定量描述性横断面研究，选取杜利凯尔市居住的200名老年人作为研究对象。于2011年6月至7月采用两阶段整群抽样和系统随机抽样方法收集数据。同时进行描述性统计和推断性统计。
68%的老年人在过去一年中看过医务人员。其中8%的人去过急诊科，他们大多报告有心脏病相关症状。200名老年人中，12.5%的人住院治疗，53.0%的人使用了诊断服务。年龄、婚姻状况、日常生活活动能力和常规用药在95%置信水平下与医疗服务利用存在显著关联（p>0.05）。
婚姻状况、日常生活习惯、慢性病的存在和常规用药与医疗保健利用存在显著关联。建议提供社会支持服务、开展针对老年人的非正式教育和宣传项目，并开展涵盖不同人群的研究。
