Unmet health care needs of elderly residing on urban areas of Sunsari District, Nepal. A Cross Sectional Study

Abstract

Background: The global aging population is in increasing trend. Morbidity increases with age and enhances the burden of health problems that result in new challenges to meet additional demands. There can be various types of issues such as health problems, health care utilization, physical and social care which should be carefully assessed and addressed. This study aimed to assess the unmet health care needs among elderly. Methods: A Community based, House to House, Cross-sectional study was conducted in urban areas of the sunsari district using face to face interviews. The sample size of 530 elderly was selected by a systematic proportionate random sampling technique. Results: This study unfurled the prevalence of unmet need for consultation for Nearsightedness 52.3%, Farsightedness 53.7%%, Hearing 79.7%, Dental 79.4%, Hypertension 6.7%, Diabetes 3.9%, CVD 5.3 % among those with these specific health needs and of at least one Unmet Health care need to be 64.9% among the studied participants. At least one unmet health need was significantly associated with higher odds among elderly age more than 70, of dalit and janajati ethnicity, illiterate, poor, those with difficulty leaving home, the distance of health facility > 30 mins, and those with depressive symptoms. Conclusion: The study highlighted the higher prevalence and associated factors related to unmet health care needs among the elderly which should be addressed to promote healthy ageing. There is an urgent need to promote geriatric health services and make it available at the primary health care level the first level of contact with a national health system.