Comprehensive geriatric assessment for community‐dwelling elderly in Asia compared with those in Japan: III. Phuto in Vietnam

Abstract

Background: The objective of the present study is to compare the findings of comprehensive geriatric assessment between community‐dwelling elderly aged 60 years and older living in Vietnam and in Japan.Methods: A cross‐sectional, interview‐ and examination‐based study was undertaken of community‐dwelling elderly people living in under‐developed Ngoc Quan village, semideveloped Viet‐tri city in Phuto province, both in Vietnam and in Sonobe town in Kyoto, Japan. One hundred and ninety‐nine and 188 community‐dwelling elderly aged 60 years or older in two developmentally different areas in Vietnam and 411 community‐dwelling elderly aged 65 years or older in Japan, were examined using a common comprehensive geriatric assessment tool. Interviews pertaining to activities of daily living (ADL), medical and social history, quality of life (QOL) and the 15‐item Geriatric Depression Scale as well as anthropometrical and blood chemical examinations were included in the assessment. Using anova and χ2 test, findings from the three groups were compared.Results: In a comparison of comprehensive geriatric assessment findings among community‐dwelling elderly in under‐developed Ngoc Quan village, in semideveloped Viet‐tri city in Vietnam and in highly developed Kyoto in Japan, all activities of daily living scores except those relating to social role, all quality of life scores, body mass index, serum lipid levels and hemoglobin concentrations were lowest in Ngoc Quan and highest in Kyoto. Mean blood pressure measurements, prevalence of hypertension and prevalence of impaired glucose tolerance were higher in Vietnam than in Japan. The prevalence of depression was lower in the elderly in Viet‐tri in Vietnam than those in Ngoc Quan in Vietnam or in Kyoto in Japan.Conclusion: It is supposed that economic and social development might bring higher comprehensive geriatric assessment scores, better‐nutritional states and more appropriate controls for risk factors in community‐dwelling elderly in a economically developmental dose responsive manner.