Background: Diabetes is a chronic condition. The burden of diabetes is, expected to rise to 592 million by 2035. Diabetes self-care activities can have a dramatic impact on lowering glycosylated hemoglobin levels. Hence, this study has been planned to assess the self-care activities among the type 2 diabetes patients in rural areas of Kancheepuram district, Tamil Nadu.Methods: A cross-sectional study was conducted among type 2 diabetic patients residing in rural field practice area of Shri Sathya Sai Medical College and Research Institute, Kancheepuram district during May 2019 and June 2019. Personal interview using semi-structured questionnaire including summary of diabetes self-care activities- revised version was conducted.Results: Majority of the study participants were female and 46.2% were above 51 years of age. Majority had diabetes mellitus for 1-5 years. Of the diabetic self-care activities 68.5% had healthy eating 2-4 times/week. About 33.2% of the participants were not indulged in physical activity as well as high-intensity exercises even for a single day; about 33% had not tested their blood sugar level for even a single time and only 1.5% had checked their feet on all days during the previous week. Higher food scores were found significantly associated with availability of family support for self-care activities (p value 0.020).Conclusions: Of the diabetic self-care activities the healthy dietary component was followed satisfactorily but exercise, foot care and testing of blood sugar were followed poorly by the study participants.
Background: The proportion of elderly population is on the increasing trend in India. Morbidity was found higher among the elderly population. About 10% increased risk of mortality was found among elderly people with unmet needs. The objective of the study was to assess the morbidity pattern and unmet health needs among elderly population in rural areas of Kancheepuram district, Tamil Nadu.Methods: This community based cross-sectional study was conducted for a period of 18 months in four selected villages in Kancheepuram district, Tamil Nadu, among 390 participants. EASY care standard (2010) questionnaire was used for assessment of health care needs. Frequency distribution of study variables and association using chi-square test were done using SPSS software version 23.Results: Out of 390 study participants, 51% were females. The most common morbidity was arthritis (40.5%), followed by diabetes and difficulty in hearing (29.5% each). Psycho-social issues such as loneliness (36.7%), little interest in doing things (30.8%), feeling hopelessness (30%) were noted among the study participants. The highest unmet health need was 11.8% for difficulty in hearing. The unmet health needs were associated with older age, widowhood, lower educational status, inability to work, low socio-economic status, absence of individual income, and absence of care taker of the study participants.Conclusions: The health needs of elderly are multi-faceted viz., medical, psycho-social, financial, etc. Since, family characteristics play a major role in meeting the health needs of elderly population, community-oriented services mainly involving family members will help for addressing the unmet needs of the elderly.
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