A study on lifestyle and morbidity profile of geriatric population in lucknow

Background: It is estimated that the no. of elderly persons would grow to 137 million by 2021 in our country. Aging is an universal process. Old age is associated with physical, mental and social problems. Life style characteristics are important in determining the quality and quantity of life. Objective: To determine the biosocial characteristics and morbidity profile of elderly and to suggest measures to reduce morbidity among the elderly. Material and Method: A cross-sectional study was done among elderly in two small urban slums(population<5000) >=60 yrs. A total of 100 elderly were selected and multi stage random sampling technique was employed. A predesigned and pretested questionnaire was used and house to house survey was done. Data was entered in MS Excel and analyzed using SPSS 11.5 version and the results were recorded as frequencies, means ± standard deviations and p-values. . Chi-square test was used for categorical variables. A p-value of <0.05 was taken as the criteria of significance. Results: The Mean age was (SD) 63.98(4.26) yrs. The mean age (SD) of males was 65.06 (4.39) yrs. The mean age Of females was 62.90(3.90 yrs).Majority of respondents were married (64.16%) belonged to lower SES(71.12%).Most of the respondents were vegetarians (53.44%0.Among men the major addiction was Smoking (63.0%).Whereas among women the major addiction was tobacco chewing(21.0%).Besides Emotional problems (75%),senile cataract (64.5%)was the common illness followed by osteoarthritis (56%).Most (29.77%) of women spent their leisure time in religious activities whereas most(33.15%) of the men spent the leisure time in socializing. Conclusions: In our study the emotional problem of the elderly was high and the eye problems were also significant so measures should be undertaken to address this aspect of the elderly health. Measures should also be undertaken to address the problem of tobacco addiction among elderly.