Most common health problems of elderly in the opinion of health sciences students in Poland, Belarus and Greece

Abstract

Introduction: Health is one of the most important and cherished values in the elderly. It has been estimated that among people over 65 years old 80% of people suffer from at least one physical illness. Purpose: To identify the opinions of the respondents on the most common health problems of elderly over 60. Materials and methods: The study was conducted between January 2013 and November 2014 in three study groups: Polish, Belarusian and Greek students. A total of 600 (200 for each group) respondents were tested with the questionnaire created by authors. Results: Respondents indicated that the most characteristic physical features of elderly people are wrinkles (68.7%, n = 412), gray hair (54.3%, n = 326) while cardiovascular diseases are the most common health problem (76.3%, n = 458). The most significant factor in delaying the aging process was active lifestyle (85.3%, n = 512). Conclusions: There is a need for increased education in geriatrics and care of the elderly among students of health sciences, who in the future will be entered in the geriatric therapeutic teams. The perception of health problems of the elderly were different depending on the country of origin of the respondents. This may indicate that the students don’t know the basic diseases and ailments in this age group (for example geriatric giants).