Elderly Patients Treated in Selected Family Medicine Offices in Central Istria And Their Habits
Tina Zavidić, Đino Lovrinić
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Abstract

Objective: To describe the sociodemographic profile and investigate the habits of elderly patients attending family medicine offices in central Istria, Croatia.
Patients and Methods: This was a retrospective study, conducted in central Istria. Data were obtained by a physical examination, extraction from a recorded history of disease, and using an administered questionnaire. The patients were stratified into three groups: young (65-74 years), middle (75-84 years), and older old age (>85 years). Groups were compared about education, marital status, body mass index, frequency of visits to a family doctor, and habitual activities such as physical activity, smoking, coffee and alcohol consumption, and vitamins/dietary supplements intake, and hobbies.
Results: Overall, 191 patients were included, of which 93 young (49%), 82 middle (43%), and 16 older old (8%). The age groups differed statistically with regard to education and marital status. In the young old group, 53% of subjects had a high school/university diploma, in the middle old 19%, and in the oldest old 12% (p<0.001). The proportion of widowed subjects in the young, middle, and oldest old groups were 16%, 40%, and 50%, respectively (p=0.005). The most common diagnoses were cardiovascular diseases (76-83%), diabetes (41-56%), vision and hearing problems (13-31%), and musculoskeletal disorders (6-29%). The majority of responders were not physically active (59.2%) and had a body mass index ≥ 25 kg/m2 (50-77%).
Conclusion: Understanding the profile of elderly patients is paramount in order to preserve the dignity of living by meeting their health, social, and economic needs.

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This is an open access article distributed under the Creative Commons Attribution License which permits unrestricted use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original work is properly cited.

Article Type: Research Article

J Clin Exp Invest, Volume 9, Issue 1, March 2018, 34-39

https://doi.org/10.5799/jcei.413069

Publication date: 10 Mar 2018

Article Views: 2492

Article Downloads: 1084

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