S.Thangamani

Akhila Das

Alma Rose Devasia

Harikrishnan KP

Riya Ann James

Kiran
:Elderly, chronic diseases, co-morbidities ,

The likely corresponding increase in prevalence of chronic diseases will be a major challenge for a health care system. Few nationwide epidemiological studies include a large enough sample of older adults to provide estimates of chronic conditions among them. This study aimed to estimate the prevalence of common chronic health conditions and multimorbidities among elderly patients. A hospital based prospective observational study was conducted in general medicine OPD and IPD at Karuna medical college, vilayodi, chittur, for a period of 6 months. The study was based on the data collected from 202 patients who were aged > 65 years. The records of 202 patients >65 yrs were reviewed; there were 111 males and 91 females. A total of 146 patients were aged 65-74yrs (early elderly) and 56 patients were aged > 75yrs (late elderly). Chronic morbidities were present in 137 patients whereas 45 elderly patients were presented with no morbidities. The diseases of the cardiovascular system and endocrine ranked highest among the chronic diseases. The high frequency of occurrence of multiple chronic diseases in the same individual highlights the challenges awaiting the current healthcare delivery system in developing countries as the populations in these parts of the world grow older.

8 , 2 , 2018