PREVALENCE OF MORBIDITIES AMONG ELDERLY POPULATION OF JODHPUR, INDIA.

Aging of a population is a matter of great concern fo the health sector. The elderly are on the whole less healthy than the non-elderly. The ag ed population has special health problems that are basically different from those of adult or youn g. The present study was conducted to examine the prev alence of morbidities among elderly population of Jodhpur, India, across their age and gender background. The treatment taken or not taken for one or the other morbidities were also re corded and delineate the common health conditions affecting the elderly respondent. For this purpose, data from 320 elderly respondents (160 men and 160 women) who were residing in Jodhpur city, India, were collected and analyzed with the crosstabulation and ChiSquare Test using SPSS version 16.0. The majority (75.9%) of the elderly respondent were in the age group of 61-75 years of age. The findings revealed that the majority of eld erly respondents were suffering from Hypertension and Cataract, followed by Diabetes, He art diseases, and Osteoporosis. Treatment seeking behavior was more prevalent for Heart Disea ses (97.5%), Chronic lung diseases (96%), Diabetes (92.5%) and Hypertension (90.9%) as compar ed to Arthritis (87.5%), Osteoporosis (78.5%) and Depression (65.5%). Awareness among the elderly population and their ca retaker should be created for regular medical check-ups to ensure prevention and early de tection of the chronic diseases. Modification of strategy towards the wellbeing of elderly is a p riority at this juncture.