Open AccessA CROSS SECTIONAL STUDY OF HEALTH SEEKING BEHAVIOUR AND OUT OF POCKET EXPENSES AMONG ELDERLY IN THE RURAL POPULATION IN INDORE.
Author(s) -
Akanksha Lazarus,
Aarti Sahasrabudhhe,
V. K. Arora
Publication year - 2020
Publication title -
international journal of medical and biomedical studies
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
eISSN - 2589-8698
pISSN - 2589-868X
DOI - 10.32553/ijmbs.v4i2.989
Subject(s) - medicine , marital status , socioeconomic status , cross sectional study , health care , population , rural area , gerontology , population ageing , sample size determination , chronic disease , demography , family medicine , environmental health , pathology , sociology , economics , economic growth , statistics , mathematics
Background: Population ageing is global phenomenon. In India, size and share of elderly population is growing fast. The elderly due to increased morbidity from chronic disease have long term health care needs. The cost of the health care during old age appears to be very high.
Objectives: 1. To determine health seeking behaviour of elderly rural population of Indore. 2. To assess their out of pocket expense.
Methods: A Cross sectional study was conducted at Field practice area of Index Medical College, Indore in November 2017 to February 2018. A semi structured questionnaire was administered using the interview technique. Sample Size calculated was 250 by Simple Random Sampling. Elderly 60 years of age and above were included in the study. Study variables included sociodemographic parameters such as age, sex, education, occupation, socioeconomic status, and marital status. Data entry and statistical analysis used SPSS version 20.0.
Results: Out of 250 participants 139 were males and 111 were females.76.2% elderly suffering from chronic illness were on regular treatment, Prevalence of chronic illness (75.9%) was highest in participants who were above 80 years. The reason for not taking regular treatment in 57.7% elderly was expensive medicines and 29.6% showed ignorance towards health seeking in terms of treatment prescribed, 62% participants get the money from their children or other family members for their health care needs.
Conclusions: Out of the total expenditure on health care, nearly half of it is towards medicines. Treatment cost for chronic morbidities is also quite high. When older persons are economically dependent, increasing health expenditure adds to the economic burden on the family. Elderly patients should be encouraged to visit government health setups and avail the benefits of various government health policies.
Keywords: Ageing, elderly, rural, health seeking, out of pocket expenses.