Morbidity pattern amongst elderly patients presenting at a primary care clinic in Nigeria

Abstract

BackgroundThe elderly comprise the fastest-expanding age group globally, with the greatest increase occurring in developing countries. Disease and deteriorating health are implicitly assumed to be associated with ageing, as chronic medical illnesses mostly present with increasing age.ObjectivesTo describe the morbidity pattern of elderly patients presenting at the General Outpatients Clinic of the University College Hospital, Ibadan, Nigeria.MethodThis was a cross-sectional descriptive study of 500 elderly respondents who presented at the clinic between September 2004 and April 2005. They were interviewed according to the format of the electronic, second revision of the International Classification of Primary Care (ICPC-2-E) questionnaire. Main outcome measurements were the prevalence of various morbidities, self-reported health status and socio-demographic characteristics. Body mass index (BMI) was used to assess respondents’ nutritional status.ResultsRespondents were found to under-report their actual health problems. The mean ± s.d of self-reported health problems was 1.7 ± 0.9 (range 1–6), while the mean ± s.d of diagnosed morbidities was 2.7 ± 1.4 (range 1–8). The most prevalent morbidities were hypertension (40.0%), cataracts (39.4%) and osteoarthritis (26.8%). The prevalence of anaemia was 8.0% (females = 11.2%; males = 2.6%), and it was significantly associated with gender (p = 0.001). Nutritional status indicated a high prevalence of overweight and obesity (51.8%), which was significantly higher amongst the female respondents than the males (p = 0.001).ConclusionThe prevalence of chronic medical illnesses was high amongst the elderly in this setting. In addition, the elderly under-reported their actual health problems. The high prevalence of overweight and obesity amongst the elderly in this setting calls for public health action that advocates lifestyle changes to manage the health of the elderly.

Morbidity Pattern Among the Elderly Population in an Urban Field Practice Area of Guntur Medical College, Guntur.

“…The high prevalence of cataract amongst the respondents may be attributed to cultural fear of surgery, the cost of surgery and the belief that the diminution of vision is the consequence of ageing. In contrast it was (70%)in a study conducted by Prakash et al 8 3 In the present study the prevalence of Morbidity among elderly males and females was (51.31%) and females (51.7%).In contrast it was very high in a study conducted by Piramanayagam etal 10 where it was77.6% in males and 90.9% in females.…”

“…2 The body mass index (BMI) is a useful index of relative weight that can be applied to define obesity.In the present study 19.1% of the elderly were overweight and 8.1% are obese whereas it was 32% and 21.2% respectively in a study by Lawrence etal. 3 Obesity is associated with impaired physical activity and associated risks.…”

Older persons and malaria treatment in Nigeria

“…This is of great concern in the course of peaceful and successful aging. Older people in Nigeria are not predisposed to presenting illness in the hospital (Adebusoye et al, 2011); they rather prefer to attend a chemist or drug store where auxiliary pharmacy assistant have little training on prescribed drugs (Oshiname and Brieger, 1992). In Nigeria, having a chemist or being a patient medicine vendor does not necessarily require higher educational attainment or training; the art of selling drugs is learnt in apprenticeship or as a trade.…”

Associations of chronic illnesses and socio-demographic factors with health-related quality of life of older adults in Nigeria: A cross-sectional study

“…This finding is consistent with previous studies looking at chronic conditions among the older adults. 33 , 34 …”