Gupta Ankit Amar, Lall Amrit Kumar, Das Aditi, Saurav Anshu, Nandan Abnish, Shah Deepa, Agrahari Anand, Yadav Deepak Kumar
Department of Community Medicine, School of Public Health and Community Medicine, BP Koirala Institute of Health Sciences (BPKIHS), Dharan, Nepal.
Indian J Community Med. 2016 Oct-Dec;41(4):273-279. doi: 10.4103/0970-0218.193333.
The rising geriatric population is facing significant health and social problems in the developing world that are impacting the quality of their lives.
The study describes the general health status and the socioeconomic characteristics of the elderly people of Pakhribas village development committee (VDC) of Eastern Nepal.
Descriptive cross-sectional study was carried out targeting the people aged 60 years and above in the sample area using a semi-structured questionnaire and convenient sampling to get the required sample size. A total of 189 elderly people who consented were interviewed in May 2010.
The major part of the elderly population was in the age group of 60-69 years. Seventy-two percent were illiterate and 75% were still earning with the majority involved in farming. Nine out of ten were living with their families and still made decisions for the household, Eighty-two percent did not feel lonely and 88.4% did not report any misbehavior by the house members. Regarding health, 69% had some diagnosed health issue with 36% suffering from gastritis and 20.4% from chronic lung disease. Using the ICD 10 criteria, depression was found among 18%. The most prevalent geriatric problem was a dental problem as found in 61% even though 87% claimed to brush their teeth regularly. More than half were suffering from visual difficulty and the proportions suffering from memory and hearing issues were also substantive. Smoking habit was found in 60%, and the relation between smoking and chronic respiratory diseases had a statistical association ( = <0.05). The geriatric cases who were misbehaved with felt depressed or neglected in the family ( = <0.0001).
The results of the study show that employment, family support, and pension schemes have a positive impact on the social status of the elderly. Health screening clinics should be established in the community to detect health-related disorders. Elderly populations need health education to emphasize the importance of personal and dental hygiene and to abstain from smoking and alcohol.
在发展中世界，不断增长的老年人口面临着重大的健康和社会问题，这些问题正在影响他们的生活质量。
本研究描述了尼泊尔东部帕克里巴斯村发展委员会（VDC）老年人的总体健康状况和社会经济特征。
采用描述性横断面研究，以样本地区60岁及以上人群为对象，使用半结构化问卷并采用方便抽样的方法获取所需样本量。2010年5月，共对189名同意参与的老年人进行了访谈。
老年人口的主要部分年龄在60 - 69岁之间。72%为文盲，75%仍在挣钱，其中大多数从事农业。十分之九的人与家人同住，仍为家庭做决策，82%不感到孤独，88.4%未报告家庭成员有任何不当行为。关于健康，69%有一些已确诊的健康问题，36%患有胃炎，20.4%患有慢性肺病。根据国际疾病分类第10版标准，18%的人患有抑郁症。最普遍的老年问题是牙齿问题，61%的人存在该问题，尽管87%的人声称经常刷牙。超过一半的人有视力问题，存在记忆和听力问题的比例也相当大。60%的人有吸烟习惯，吸烟与慢性呼吸道疾病之间存在统计学关联（P = <0.05）。在家庭中受到不当对待、感到沮丧或被忽视的老年病例（P = <0.0001）。
研究结果表明，就业、家庭支持和养老金计划对老年人的社会地位有积极影响。应在社区设立健康筛查诊所，以检测与健康相关的疾病。老年人群需要健康教育，以强调个人卫生和口腔卫生的重要性，并戒烟戒酒。
