Morbidity and functional disability among elderly in rural and urban areas of Shimoga, Karnataka: A cross-sectional study

ABSTRACT

Background: India has acquired the label of “an ageing nation” as per the classification of the United Nations. Functional disability or activities of daily living is the routine activities that people do every day without needing assistance. Objectives: The objectives of the study were (i) to characterize the morbidity among the elderly in rural and urban field practice areas of Shimoga Institute of Medical Sciences, Shimoga. (ii) To assess the functional disability among elderly in rural and urban field practice areas of Shimoga Institute of Medical Sciences, Shimoga. Materials and Methods: A cross-sectional study was conducted to assess the morbidity and functional disability among elderly in rural and urban field practice areas of Shimoga Institute of Medical Sciences, Shivamogga. A total of 210 participants each in urban and rural areas were studied. Data were collected by doing house-to-house visits after informed consent with questionnaire. The analysis was done using SPSS version 21 software. Results: The more prevalent morbidity among urban elderly was musculoskeletal problem (62.4%), followed by visual problems (59.5%). In rural elderly, the most frequent health problem was hypertension (31.4%), diabetes (25.7%) followed by musculoskeletal problem (21.4%). The prevalence of functional disability among rural study population was 20.48% and urban area was 7.14%. Conclusion: Prevalence of morbidity and functional disability was high among elderly in rural and urban areas. Hence, there is a need for implementation of comprehensive care including imparting health education and promoting a healthy lifestyle by creating awareness among elderly.