Prakash Chandra Panda, Smita Kumari Panda, Shilpa Karir, Rudra Prasanna Mishra, Durga Madhab Satapathy
BACKGROUND
Ageing is generally defined as a process of deterioration in the functional capacity of an individual that results from structural changes, with advancement of age. Ageing is a universal process and it affects every individual, family, community and society.
The present study was designed to assess the quality of life of geriatric age group population residing in field practice area of VIMSAR, Burla and to find out factors affecting their quality of life.
MATERIALS AND METHODS
A community based cross-sectional study was adopted for studying the health problems of elderly and their quality of life, using WHO Quality of Life-BREF questionnaire. Simple random sampling technique was used for sample collection. A total of 213 individuals ≥ 60 years of age were enrolled for study for a period of three months, out of which 150 participated in the study.
RESULTS
Out of 150 geriatric population, 69(46%) were male and 81(54%) female, most of them were in the age group of 60-64 years- male 30 (43.5%) and female 32 (39.5%). Maximum number of study subjects suffered from cataract 82 (54.7%), followed by Osteoarthritis and Hypertension 20 (13.3%) each, Diabetes 15 (10%) and psychiatric problem in 2 (1.3%). The mean QOL score for all the elderly persons when put together was in the second quartile indicating that in general, on an average, the population as a whole had moderate quality of life.
CONCLUSION
There is a need to highlight the medical and psychosocial problems that are being faced by the elderly people in India and strategies for bringing about an improvement in their quality of life.
