Abstract

Background: Population aging is a worldwide phenomenon. In India, according to the 2001 Census, the elderly population (60+ years) accounted for 77 million; however, the elderly population has crossed the 100 million mark according to the Census 2011. Aging results in a generalized deterioration of the most vital organs and systems, thereby leading to a lesser effectiveness in physiological functions and an increase in risk factors that leads to various diseases.
Objective: To assess the morbidity pattern and study the health-seeking behavior of rural geriatric population of Varanasi district, Uttar Pradesh, India.
Materials and Methods: A total of 402 elderly people aged 60 years and older were selected from Chiraigaon block of Varanasi district by simple random sampling. Data analysis was done by using SPSS, trial version 17. Result: Of the 402 study subjects, around 85% experienced at least one health problem. The most frequent health problem was musculoskeletal problem (56%), followed by hypertension (34.1%) and cataract (25.4%). Majority of them preferred allopathic medicine (57.6%), followed by ayurvedic medicines (10.2%) and homeopathic medicine (6.1%) for their health problems, while 26% were not taking any medical help for their health problem. Conclusion: This study revealed the elevated morbidity load among elderly population, which pressurizes for efforts to assist them with specialized healthcare. The study showed that, although most of the elderly people received treatment services from government hospital, there is a major group either receiving it from private sector or not receiving the treatment. On the basis of these findings, it can be recommended that there is a need to develop geriatric health-care services.