Comprehensive geriatric assessment for community‐dwelling elderly in Asia compared with those in Japan: VII. Khon Khen in Thailand

Abstract

Objective: To compare the findings of comprehensive geriatric assessment between community‐dwelling elderly aged 60 years and older living in Thailand and Japan.Design: A cross‐sectional, interview‐ and examination‐based study.Setting: The community‐dwelling elderly living in rural Thang Kwang villages, in the city Khon Kaen, Khon Kaen province, Thailand and in the town Sonobe, Kyoto, Japan.Methods: The subjects consisted of 198 and 209 community‐dwelling elderly aged 60 years or older in two developmentally different areas in Khon Kaen province in Thailand and 411 community‐dwelling elderly aged 65 years or older in Japan, respectively, which 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 the χ2 test, the findings of the three groups were compared.Results: In comparison with Comprehensive Geriatric Assessment (CGA) our findings among communities dwelling in the rural Thang Kwang villages, the city Khon Kaen, Thailand and in the highly‐developed city Kyoto, Japan, were that ADL (except social role), QOL (except family relationship), mean systolic blood pressure, serum total and high‐density cholesterol levels, hemoglobin concentrations and prevalence of hypertension were lower in the elderly in rural Thang Kwang villages than those in Khon Kaen city or in Kyoto. In contrast, a prevalence of anemia defined by World Health Organization criteria was higher in the elderly in rural Thang Kwang villages or Khon Kaen city than in Kyoto. It is noteworthy that a prevalence of suspected impaired glucose tolerance or diabetes mellitus in Thailand was extraordinarily higher than in Japan, compared to nearby South‐Asian countries.Conclusion: It is supposed that economical and social development might bring a better CGA and a better nutritional state to Thailand. However, we should pay more attention to over‐nutrition, modified lifestyle and appropriate controls for global risk factors in the community‐dwelling elderly in this economically developmental country in Asia.