Abstract
There are currently 1.5 million indigenous people in Bangladesh, constituting 1.8% of the total population and representing one of the country's most deprived communities. This study explores the health status and quality of life along with their determinants among indigenous older people in Bangladesh in order to fill the knowledge and evidence gap on this topic. A mixed-methods approach was deployed in October 2019 in the Sylhet division of Bangladesh which involved a cross-sectional survey among 400 indigenous older adults (200 males, 200 females) from 8 tea gardens using a pre-tested semi-structured questionnaire. Ten in-depth interviews were also conducted with providers of the tea garden health facilities. Descriptive analysis, multiple logistic and multi-nominal linear regression were performed to explore associated factors around health and quality of life. Of the total respondents, the majority (79.5%) had chronic diseases, with visual difficulty being predominant (74%) among the conditions. Almost all (94%) of the respondents experienced delays in receiving treatment and poverty was identified by most (85%) as the primary cause of those delays. Extreme age, being male, living alone and low family income were significantly associated with suffering from chronic conditions. Furthermore, having a chronic condition and extreme age were found to be significantly associated with a low quality of life. Health service providers identified lack of logistical support in the health facilities, the economic crisis and lack of awareness as the major causes of poor health status and poor health seeking behaviour of the indigenous older adults. Indigenous older men in extreme old age are more vulnerable to adverse health conditions and poor quality of life. Health literacy and health seeking behaviour is poor among indigenous older adults generally and there is a huge gap in the health services and social supports available to them.
Highlights
In 2019, more than 700 million people worldwide were estimated to be aged 65 years and above [1], forming approximately 9% of the world’s total population
Indigenous older men in extreme old age are more vulnerable to adverse health conditions and poor quality of life
Website of the organization: https://www.ciprb.org/ The funders had no role in study design, data collection and analysis, decision to publish, or preparation of the manuscript
Summary
In 2019, more than 700 million people worldwide were estimated to be aged 65 years and above [1], forming approximately 9% of the world’s total population. According to the UN report, the proportion of the population aged 65 years or above nearly doubled in the South East Asian region from 6% in 1990 to 11% in 2019 [1]. Bangladesh shares a similar scenario, seeing a 25 year increase in life expectancy over a 50 year period from 1970 to 2019 [3]. There are currently 1.5 million indigenous people in Bangladesh, constituting 1.8% of the total population and representing one of the country’s most deprived communities. This study explores the health status and quality of life along with their determinants among indigenous older people in Bangladesh in order to fill the knowledge and evidence gap on this topic
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