Is home bound a major burden towards health access among the elderly population? A community based cross sectional study in the selected northern districts in Tamilnadu

Abstract

Background: The world population is presently experiencing population aging. About 8% of older Indians were confined to their home or bed. There is need for a strategy to tackle rural elderly home bound with co-morbid with limited number of doctors, nurses, physiotherapist along with shortage of bed in the country. This study was planned to estimate the prevalence of home bound and the associated comorbidities along with the support system and felt need among rural elderly population. Methodology: Cross sectional study was conducted in selected northern districts of Tamilnadu in about 7200 elderly population by using multistage sampling. Standardized tools such as WHO geriatric instrument with modifications including Prasad scale of SES, Katz dependency ADL index along with pretested questionnaire, calibrated instruments and detailed examination by trained doctors were used for data collection. Results: The proportion of home bound among elderly was 9.8% and was not having access to health. Physical and economical dependency was observed more among home bound elderly along with a social support system. More than three fourth of the home confined felt need for organization for elderly, need for ambulatory services, transport to hospital and need for mobile clinic for elderly. Conclusion: Proportion of Homebound among elderly were increasing with increasing age group and with increasing co-morbid conditions. There is a need to address the health problem of elderly at their homes, to improve the support system and address their felt needs by developing elderly organizations and ambulatory services.

Keywords

• Elderly
• Home bound
• Health services accessibility
• Support system
• Felt need