Disability among geriatric females: an uncared agenda in rural India

ABSTRACT

In our country India females are neglected since birth. As aging is increasing geriatric females are more prone to suffer from different morbid conditions and ultimately develop disability. As social factors and chronic diseases are the major reasons for geriatric disability, the study was undertaken with the following objectives: To assess the prevalence of chronic diseases and disability and associated factors among geriatric females in a rural area of West Bengal. Cross-sectional, Observational Community based study was conducted in a rural community of West Bengal, India by house-to-house visits, clinical examination, observation and interview with a pre-designed pre-tested proforma. Prevalence of disability was 23.8%. Different socio-demographic and chronic diseases were found associated with disability. On analysis of different chronic diseases it was observed that Acid peptic disorder, tuberculosis, hypertension, ischemic heart disease, osteoporosis, genitourinary disorder and osteoarthritis were significantly associated with disability. Among the risk factors of disability considered for this study 82.1% could be explained by logistic regression analysis. These data highlighted the different risk factors associated with disability. No single measure; but rather a multi-dimensional approach should be the model for the prevention of geriatric female disability