Geriatric Health Problems in a Rural Community of Bangladesh

This cross sectional descriptive study was conducted in some rural communities of Sreepur Thana during the month of April 2007. The study population included those aged 50 years or more and residing in the study areas. A total of 226 respondents were selected purposively and were interviewed using a pre-tested questionnaire. The objective of this study was to assess their socio economic condition and identify their health problems. The mean age of the respondents was found to be 62 years. Mean family size and monthly family income was estimated to be 5.31 and Taka 5857.52 respectively. More than half (64.2%) of the respondents were illiterate. Fifty eight percent of them were unemployed and 67.3% were found to be dependent on their family members. Most of them (65.5%) were found to be suffering from joint pains. Some cardio-respiratory problems like palpitation, dyspnea and chest pain was found to be significantly higher among the female respondents (p<0.03). ECG was done on 22 of them. Left ventricular hypertrophy was detected in 22.7% and ischemic heart disease in 27.27% of them. Systolic hypertension was significantly higher in the females (p<0.01). Majority of the respondents (64.5%) were found to have a normal fasting blood sugar level. Symptoms of prostatic enlargement like frequency, urgency, hesitation and post void dribbling of urine was respectively found to be present among 15.9, 62.8, 10.7 and 24.8% of the male respondents. In 11.4% of the female respondents, urinary dribbling was found. The mean age of menopause was estimated to be 48.46 years. Ibrahim Med. Coll. J. 2007; 1(2): 17-20 Key Words: Geriatric problems, old age, community health, RFST. doi: 10.3329/imcj.v1i2.2900