Health and Health Related Problems of the Elderly, in Daile Woreda, Southern Ethiopia
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Date
1995-05
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Addis Abeba Universty
Abstract
There are no studies dealing with the health problems of the elderly In
Ethiopia. A cross sectional survey was conducted in Daile Woreda, Sidama
Zone, Southern Ethiopia from September to December 1994 to determine the
health and related problems in the elderly. One thousand and fifty three elders
whose age 60 years and above were selected using multistage sampling
procedure and included in the study. The male to female ratio of the study
subjects was 1: 1.l7 with a mean age of 70.4 and standard deviation of ± 9.6
years. Eighty seven percent of the study subjects claimed that they were
members of social and/or reI igious groups and only 1. 6 % of them I ive alone.
Thirty seven percent of the study subjects were taking some forms of modern
medication at the time of the interview and 9% of them had a hospital visit in
the past one year. Headache, heart burn, problem of mastication and joint
pain were found to be the most frequent reported ill health problems.
Significant association was observed between certain disease complaints with
that of female sex and increasing age. Significant number of elders who were
divorced (OR=5.04, CI, 1.30, 19.55) and widowed (OR=12.35 , CI ,2.38,
64.11) are found to be psychotic. Thirty five percent and 16% of the elders
were found to be impaired in Instrumental Activities of Daily Living (IADL)
and Activities of Daily Living (ADL) respectively. This impairment is found
to be significantly associated with increasing age, in males for IADL
(OR=1.95, CI, 1.40,2.72) and in widowed elders (OR= 1.96, CI, 1.34,
2.87) for IADL and (OR=1.77, CI , 1.10,2.85) for ADL. Though the
reported prevalence of symptoms of ill health and disability is high , the elders
ability to work and support themselves and their families, their living in the
extended family and their participation in certain social and/or religious
organization was found to be encouraging. Further studies are recommended
for identification of specific disease entities causing the largest prevalence of
ill health.
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Health and Health Related Problems of the Elderly