Assessment of the elderly population's health status as part of the clinical preventive services program

Abstract

Human resources are regarded as a country's most valuable asset, and they play a critical role in economic development and growth. According to national policy, the elderly population is defined as 60 and up. Because of the rising demand for financial and social support due to health and related difficulties, the government is under pressure to adopt social policies for the elderly. Clinical preventive care can assist reduce the risks and expenses of chronic illness treatment and can prevent or delay disease onset. The aged population of either sex who visit a rural health geriatric centre's Outpatient department served as the study participants. Data were collected using a self-designed, pre-structured, and pre-validated questionnaire. The information was gathered in the form of a socio-demographic profile, which included all the necessary information, such as socioeconomic status, Body mass index (BMI), and personal habits. Visual examination, hearing, anaemia, musculoskeletal discomfort, diabetes mellitus, dermatological, hypertension, and female patients' reproductive disorders were all included in the clinical examination. A maximum of 263 (65.75%) of the subjects were in the age group of 60-69 years, 29.25% were labourers, and 38% were in modified BG Prasad class (III) of socioeconomic classification, 184 (46%) people had a BMI of 25-29.99 kg/m2. A total of 102 study participants (25.5%) had a chronic illness. 27.5% of the participants had hypertension, 11.8% had diabetes and coronary heart disease, 20.6% had hypertension and diabetes, and 10.8% had previously suffered from tuberculosis (TB). Hearing loss is a common complaint, and 5.5% reported issues with the genitourinary system, with nocturia accounting for 40.9%. The study participants, who were between the ages of 60 and 69, experienced a variety of chronic illnesses. The majority of the people in the study had hypertension, diabetes, heart disease, hypertension, diabetes, and a TB history.