Health profile of elderly in urban slums of Cuttack city, ODISHA

Abstract

Ageing is a natural process. In the words of Seneca Old age is an incurable disease, but more recently Sir James Sterling Ross commented, You do not heal old age you protect it: you promote it; you extend it. The global share of older people (aged 60 years or over) increased from 9.2 per cent in 1990 to 10.4 per cent in 2005 and will continue to grow as a proportion of the world population, reaching 21.7 per cent by 2050. In India, though percentage wise graying is not very rapid, but due to its mammoth size planning for the elderly is a huge challenge for the policy makers. This study is a prospective cross sectional study design conducted in slums of Cuttack city for 6 months. The sampled population (384) is divided in to three categories as per division of age i.e, 60-64 yrs, 65-74 yrs and ?75 yrs. Medical problems, psychological problems and other problems are being assessed through administered study questions. In the age group of 60-64yrs Hypertension is the major health problem present in 87 (51%) respondents. Next to hypertension 76 (48%) individuals have reported to be suffering from Diabetes