Common Health Problems among Geriatric Patients Attended in Dhaka Medical College Hospital, Bangladesh

Abstract

Background: The average life expectancy in the world is increasing dramatically for quite a few years. Over 13 million peoplein Bangladesh are over 60 years old as of 2019, accounting for 8% of the country's overall population. Health care among thesegroups of people is not very much concerned yet especially about non communicable diseases which are increasing globallyday by day. This study aimed to find out the common health problems among the geriatric patients attended in Dhaka MedicalCollege Hospital, Bangladesh. Objective: The objective of the study was to find out the common health problems among geriatric patients admitted in DhakaMedical College Hospital. Methods: This descriptive type of cross-sectional study was conducted among 149 patients of the outdoor and indoordepartments of Dhaka Medical College Hospital, aged 60 years and above during the period from November 2021 to April2022. Data were collected through face-to-face interviews using a pretested semi- structured questionnaire. The questionnaireincluded socio-demographic data and status of common health problems among elderly population. Then data were cleanedchecked and analyzed according to objective. Results: The survey revealed that 83.22% of respondents were 60-70 years old. Maximum respondents were illiterate(40.27%) and came from rural areas (71.14%). Approximate 57.72% of sons were principal earning members and 36% of sonswere the principal caregivers of the respondents. Fifty-one percent of geriatric patients (both male and female) hadhypertension, visual impairment 48.3%, joint pain 45% and diabetes mellitus 35%. Most importantly, the proportion of femalepatients was more who suffered from hypertension (57%), visual impairment (53%), diabetes mellitus (42%), cardiovasculardiseases, and memory loss. Joint pain was found in the same proportion both in males and females. Male suffered more fromrespiratory diseases, hearing problems, and COVID-19 than females. Conclusion: This study showed a significant proportion of the geriatric patients suffered from different types of non-communicable diseases such as hypertension, visual impairment, diabetes mellitus, joint pain, respiratory diseases, etc. It istherefore demands more attention to be paid in making geriatric people-focused health care services at all levels.