Morbidity profile of a rural and an urban population in South India

Abstract

Background: Morbidity rate is one of the indicators of health status of the population along with life expectancy and mortality rates. As very few information is available on morbidity pattern among the population, this study was planned. Objective: The objective of the study was to study the morbidity pattern in a rural and urban population of our field practice area. Materials and Methods: It is a cross-sectional study done from February 2017 to October 2017. The study was done by doing house to house survey in 3 villages and 2 localities in urban area of our field practice area using a semi-structured questionnaire. Results: Of the total population 1833, 804 were urban and 1029 were from rural. 922 were male and 911 were female population. Overall, there were about 8.5% of people reported with hypertension, 8.1% with diabetes, 1.9% with heart problems, 0.9% with musculoskeletal problems with slightly higher proportion of people having hypertension and diabetes among urban population, as well as male population which was found to be statistically significant. Musculoskeletal problems were slightly high among females compared to male population. Although the study was not done in large population, it was found that at any point in time at least 19.4% of the surveyed population had any morbidity with higher proportions of people having noncommunicable diseases (NCDs) such as hypertension, diabetes, heart problems, eye problems, and others. Conclusion: It is more important to focus on providing services for these diseases than acute illness. It is also necessary to take up preventive program and interventions for these NCDs on a regular basis in this area.