Abstract

Background: Aging is a normal irreversible developmental change in all living organisms over a chronological time. Most physical changes that occur with aging in humans are gradual and take place over a long period. In addition, the rate and degree of change is known to vary among individuals. Disease factors can increase the speed and degree of the changes. With advancements in medical knowledge and treatment facilities, life expectancy at birth has taken a giant leap in recent times. Thus, it is important to familiarize with the morbidity pattern and thereby allocate the resources and personnel to meet the needs of this population.
Objective: To study the morbidity pattern in geriatric women of coastal Karnataka, India.
Materials and Methods: Female geriatric patients who visited the tertiary care facility in coastal Karnataka, India for various problems from January 2013 to December 2013 were included in the study. Information regarding their age, vitals, medical history, diagnosed diseases, and drug history was accessed from the medical records section of the hospital and the descriptive study was reported to categorize the geriatric patients according to the ailments they had. Result: Our results showed that majority of the geriatric women had multiple illnesses. A total of 29.2% had diabetes mellitus of which 40.4% had complications. A total of 26% had hypertension, 10% had respiratory illnesses, 8% had fractures, 7.8% had ischemic heart disease, 6.8% had renal problems, 6.6% had cataract, and 5.6% had various carcinomas, thyroid diseases, gynecologic problems, psychiatric disorders, and anemia. Conclusion: Diabetes mellitus and hypertension were the leading problems among the study population. Hence, it is prudent to screen the elderly patients for these noncommunicable diseases and to spread knowledge, awareness, and self-care advice to them.