Abstract:
As the aging population in Sri Lanka is growing rapidly and is a risk factor for
geriatric diseases, the elderly people face increasing health care probems. Overall
objective of this medical sociological study was to assess the health care problems
of the elderly people living in the Thenmaradchi Divisional Secretariat division.
A mixed method was employed in this community-based study. Questionnaire
survey, key informant interviews and case study methods were used as the
primary data. Based on the stratified random sampling technique 427 elderly
people were selected for this study. The quantitative data collected through the
questionnaire method was analyzed using descriptive statistical methods and chisquare tests with the usage of SPSS version 21. Qualitative data were analyzed
thematically from the case study method and key informant interviews. The age
range for the elderly was 60-98 years, with an average of 71.14 and deviation of
7.462. Most of the elderly (69.1%) had chronic diseases and among them, the vast
majority of elderly (94.4%) received medical treatment for their diseases. Most
elderly people (27%) suffered high blood pressure and 2.2% of the elderly people
had kidney disease. Over majority of the elderly people (97%) did not get geriatric
medical services for their health care problems. Socio demographic factors,
particularly the sex (p=0.047) and education (p<0.000) have a statistically
significant association between doctor-patient relationship at the government
hospitals. As well as, the total monthly income of the family has a strong
association with the life satisfaction (p=0.006) of the elderly people. The majority
of elderly people (89.9%) felt they were full of energy. Most of the elderly people
(82.4%) felt happy most of the time. More elderly people (79.4%) stated they
used coping mechanisms to manage their health care related issues. The research
concludes that the elderly people faced enormous health care related problems.
This study strongly recommends that more health care and geriatric medical
services should be provided to enhance the quality of life and well-being of the
elderly people.
