RESUMO
Background: Ageing is defined as a process of deterioration in the functional capacity of an individual that results from structural changes, with the advancement of age. Globally the geriatric population has increased from 8% in 2012 to 8.5% in 2015 and expected to rise by 22% in 2050. Hence we planned to study morbidity profiles and predictors of health-seeking behaviour among the elderly population in Ormanjhi, Ranchi. Methodology: A community based cross sectional study was conducted in Ormanjhi, Ranchi, Jharkhand for a period of six months (March-August 2018). The study was done among 206 geriatric populations fulfilling the eligibility criteria, selected by cluster sampling and those not giving their consent were excluded from the study. Data collected were entered in Microsoft Excel and analysis was done on Statistical Package for Social Sciences (SPSS) version 20.0. Results: A total of 206 geriatric populations fulfilling the study criteria, were enrolled during the study. The majority of the age group was found between 60-69 years (71.8%). Around 202 (98.1%) of which resided in rural areas, nearly half 102 (49.5%) depended on pension for livelihood and 108 (52.4%) were illiterate. Two-fifth of the study subjects (40.3%) consulted a government doctor if any health problems occurred followed by 30.5% preferred a private doctor and 20.1% consulted unqualified practitioners. Most of the study participants (64.5%) did not seek medical care due to financial reasons followed by 14.5% considered it a minor illness than 13% complained that health facility far away and 8.1% considered that old age itself as a disease. Non tribal ethnicity, participants who had their own source of income and co-morbidity were significantly associated with health seeking behaviour. Conclusion: Most participants in this study suffered from morbidities which also affect their quality of life. It was also observed that most of them were not dependent on others for their daily activities. Health seeking behaviour was found to be appropriate in nearly two third (70%) of elderly subjects in Ranchi, Jharkhand.
RESUMO
Background: Improving the quality of life of the geriatric population along with maintaining their health and promoting social participation still poses a major public health challenge in the twenty-first century. Hence, we planned to measure the quality of life (QOL) in each domain namely physical, psychological, social, and environmental using the world health organization quality of life brief version (WHO QOL-BREF) questionnaire and to assess the predictors of QOL among the elderly population. Methodology: A community-based cross-sectional study was conducted in Ormanjhi, Ranchi, Jharkhand for a period of 6 months. The study was carried out among 206 geriatric populations fulfilling the eligibility criteria. The data collected were entered in MS Excel and analyzed using SPSS version 20. The QOL scores were expressed in terms of mean and standard deviation, and the difference between mean scores was tested by using student t-test/analysis of variance (ANOVA). The predictor associated with QOL was done by multiple linear regression analysis. P value less than 0.05 was considered statistically significant. Results: A total of 206 geriatric people fulfilling the study criteria were enrolled during the study. The majority of the people were of the age between 60 and69 years (71.8%). Most of them 202 (98.1%) resided in rural areas, 108 (52.4%) of them were illiterate by education, and nearly half 102 (49.5%) depended on pension for livelihood. Nontribal ethnicity, backward category, illiteracy, low socio-economic status, nuclear family, elderly person having no own source of income, currently living alone, person having more co-morbidity, and less activities of daily living (ADL) score were significantly associated with low QOL score. Conclusion: Overall QOL was good to excellent in Ranchi, Jharkhand. We concluded that QOL is affected by many different factors.
RESUMO
BACKGROUND: This study intends to find the growth patterns of selected school children. Globally accepted statistical methods were used to evaluate the data and prepare a growth chart. METHODS: This cross-sectional study was conducted with school-going children from 16 selected schools of a tribal district in Jharkhand using multistage cluster random sampling. In each selected school, 60 students, 30 boys and 30 girls, were chosen randomly, totaling 960 children (full data was for 935 children only). Growth charts were created using Lambda-Mu-Sigma (LMS) chart maker version 2.5 for height, weight and body mass index (BMI). In the charts, the LMS values with Z scores for each age and respective height and weight for boys and girls were recorded. RESULTS: The 468 boys and 467 girls were in the range of 6-14 years of age. Percentile values obtained for the measured heights in centimetres were evaluated and compared with Indian Academy of Pediatrics reference charts for boys and girls for the same age group, and our values were found to be on the lower side. We were able to plot a growth chart of the data set; as the tribal children's ethnicity is different, this growth chart might be used to assess nutritional status. CONCLUSION: We concluded that growth curves for height, weight, and BMI may be used for evaluating children of age 6-14 years in the tribal population. The measures can be a good indicator of their nourishment status and overall growth patterns, which might be indigenous to their ethnicity. A larger sample size of similar tribal populations may give a clearer picture.
