Health problems in rural elderly at Varanasi, Uttar Pradesh

Present study comprised of 1070 elderly patients coming to P.H.C. Bhopauli, Varanasi during January 1991-December 1992. Males were 578 and females were 492. Male predominance was present in younger elderly whereas female predominance was seen among those over 75 years of age. Socio-economic status-wise 265 cases belonged to upper, 394 middle and 411 to lower income group. Arthritis (615) was the commonest disease in elderly followed by hypertension (510), visual problems (400), ischaemic heart disease (IHD) (350), hearing impairement (300), diabetes mellitus (DM) (280), protozoal and worm infestations (240), chronic bronchitis, asthma, emphysema (238), tuberculosis (220), peptic ulcer syndrome (210), varicose vein (200), haemorrhoids (180), urinary problems (154). Two hundred and forty seven cases had 2 diseases followed by 3 diseases (239), 4 diseases (165), 5 diseases (127) and more than 5 diseases (81). Multiple diseases were more frequent among those above 75 years of age. Atypical presentations and complications of different diseases were more frequent among older elderly.