Elderly Patients Treated in Selected Family Medicine Offices in Central Istria And Their Habits

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.

Keywords:

Alcohol consumption, body mass index, comorbidity, elderly physical activity, smoking,

PDF

___

1. Kinsella K, Phillips D. Global Aging: The Challenge of Success. Population Reference Bureau; Washington, DC: 2005. (Population Bulletin 60, no.1).
2. The World at Six Billion. Population Division. Department of Economic and Social Affairs. United Nations Secretariat; Oct 12, 1999. Available at www.un.org/esa/population/publications/sixbillion/sixbilpart1.pdf.
3. Murgić J, et al. The ageing of Croatian population. Coll Antropol 2009;33(Suppl.2):701–5.
4. Duraković Z, Mišigoj-Duraković M. Anthropology of aging. Encyclopaedia of life support system (EOLSS). Oxford: Eolss Publishers; 2006.
5. Mahan LH, Escott-Stump S. Krause’s Food, Nutrition & Diet Therapy. Philadelphia: Saunders, Elsevier; 2004.
6. Žganec N et al. Trends in the Care for the Elderly in the Republic of Croatia and the EU memner States. Rev. soc. polit. 2008; 15 (Suppl 2): 171-188 [in Croatian].
7. Schienkiewitz A, et al. Comorbidity of overweight and obesity in a nationally representative sample of German adults aged 18-79 years. BMC Public Health 2012; 12: 658.
8. Hanan E.Badr, et al. Obesity Among Kuwaitis Aged 50 Years or Older: Prevalence, Correlates, and Comorbidities. The Gerontologist 2012;53 (Suppl 4): 555-66.
9. Micciolo R, et al. The association between excess weight and comorbidity and self-rated health in the Italian population. Ann Epidemiol. 2013; 23(Suppl.4): 172-178.
10. Jafar TH, et al. Prevalence of overweight and obesity and their association with hypertension and diabetes mellitus in an Indo-Asian population. CMAJ 2006; 175 (Suppl 9): 1071-7.
11. Marengoni A, et al. Prevalence of chronic disease and multimorbidity among the elderly population in Sweden. Am J Public Health 2008; 98 (Suppl 7): 1198-200.
12. Panagiotakos DB, et al. Epidemiology of overweight and obesity in a Greek adult population: the ATTIKA study. Obes Res. 2004; 12(Suppl.12): 1914-20.
13. Hennekens CH, Lopez-Sendon J. Prevention of cardiovascular disease events in those with established disease or at high risk. [accessed January 26th, 2017.]. Available at: http://www.uptodate.com/contents/prevention-of-cardiovascular-disease-events-in-those-with-established-disease-or-at-high-risk
14. Kearns K, et al. Chronic disease burden associated with overweight and obesity in Ireland: the effects of a small BMI reduction at population level. BMC Public Health 2014; 14: 143.
15. World Health Organization (WHO). Recomendaciones mundiales sobre actividad física para la salud [Internet]. 2010. [cited 2013 Oct 16]. http://whqlibdoc.who.int/publications/2010/9789243599977_spa.pdf
16. Paterson DH, et al. Ageing and physical activity: evidence to develop exercise recommendations for older adults. Can J Public Health. 2007;98:S69-108.
17. Różańska-Kirschke A, et al. The Fullerton fitness test as an index of fitness in the elderly. Med Rehabil. 2006; 10: 9-16.
18. Chodzko-Zajko WJ, Proctor DN, Fiatarone Singh MA, et al. American College of Sports Medicine position stand. Exercise and physical activity for older adults. Med Sci Sports Exerc. 2009; 41: 1510-30.
19. Bowling A, et al. A multidimensional model of the quality of life in older age. Aging Ment Health 2002;6:355-71.
20. Stewart KJ, et al. Are fitness, activity, and fatness associated with health-related quality of life and mood in older persons? J Cardiopulm Rehabil. 2003;23:11-21.
21. Morimoto T, et al. Gender differences in effects of physical activity on quality of life and resource utilization. Qual Life Res. 2006;15:537-46.
22. Lee C, Russell A. Effects of physical activity on emotional well-being among older Australian women: cross-sectional and longitudinal analyses. J Psychosom Res. 2003;54:155-60.
23. Jacobs DR Jr, et al. Cigarette smoking and mortality risk: twenty-five-year follow-up of the Seven Countries Study. Arch Intern Med. 1999;159 (Suppl 7):733-40.
24. Lam TH, et al. Smoking and mortality in the oldest-old, evidence from a prospective cohort of 56,000 Hong Kong Chinese. J Am Geriatr Soc. 2007;55 (Suppl 12):2090-1.
25. Yates LB, et al. Exceptional longevity in men: modifiable factors associated with survival and function to age 90 years. Arch Intern Med. 2008;168 (Suppl 3):284-90.
26. Murakami Y, et al. Population attributable numbers and fractions of deaths due to smoking: a pooled analysis of 180,000 Japanese. Prev Med. 2011;52 (Suppl 1):60-5.
27. Taylor DH Jr, et al. Benefits of smoking cessation for longevity. Am J Public Health 2002; 92(Suppl.6):990-6.
28. Abbott RD, et al. Age-related changes in risk factor effects on the incidence of coronary heart disease. Ann Epidemiol. 2002;12:173-81.
29. Paul CA, et al. Association of alcohol consumption with brain volume in the Framingham Study. Arch Neurol. 2008;65:1363-7.
30. Graham K, et al. Addictive behavior of older adults. Addict Behav. 1996;21:331-48.
31. Bacharach SB, et al. Retirement, risky alcohol consumption and drinking problems among blue-collar workers. J Stud Alcohol 2004;65:537-45.
32. Moos RH, et al. Older adults’ health and changes in late-life drinking patterns. Aging Ment Health 2005;9:49-59.
33. Galluzzo L, et al. Alcohol and older people. The European project VINTAGE: Good Health into Older Age. Design, methods and major results. Ann Ist Super Sanità 2012;48(Suppl 3):221-31.
34. Hallgren M, Högberg P, Andréasson S. Alcohol consumption among elderly European Union citizens. Stockholm: Swedish National Institute of Public Health; 2009.
35. Põlluste K, et al. Accessibility and use of health services among older Estonian population. Cent Eur J Public Health 2009;17(Suppl.2):64-70.