A Cross Sectional Study on Socio Demographic, Medical problems and their Attitude on Ageing in an Old Aged Home of Indore, India

Background: India’s older population will increase dramatically over the next four decades. WHO suggested that by 2015 death from chronic diseases will increase 17% that is; from 35 million to 41 million. Ageing is mainly associated with social isolation, poverty, apparent reduction in family support, inadequate housing, impairment of cognitive functioning, mental illness, widowhood, bereavement, limited options for living arrangement and dependency towards end of life. Objectives: To study the Socio Demographic status, Medico Social problems and attitude towards life of study subjects. Methodology: A cross-sectional study carried out from March to May 2015 in Old Aged Home of Indore. A total of 79 out of 80 Elderly people of Ashram, aged 60 years and above were included. Detailed clinical history was recorded and relevant physical examination was also carried out. A detailed interview was conducted followed by medical examination. Result: Maximum study subjects were in age group of 70 - 80 years, gender distribution was: males were (58.2%) and females (41.8%). Majority of population living in ashram were alone (83.5%). Around 79.7% of respondents felt that old age had affected their day-to-day life. Majority of respondents (86.1%) felt sad mainly because of his/her own Illness, the most common being Hypertension, Musculo-skeletal disorder and Depression. Conclusion: Study revealed that a major proportion of the elderly were partially or totally dependent on others, and suffering from health problems with the sense of neglect by their family members. It needs further qualitative research to explore their problems.