Journal of Education and Health Promotion

Morbidity pattern, social safety net, and drug adherence level among geriatric patients attending in a health‑care facility: A cross‑sectional study

Document Type : Original Article

Authors

. Mohan Kumar Singh Thakur
. Shweta Talati
. Anil Kumar Gupta 1
. Sudip Bhattacharya 2
. Amarjeet Singh 3

1 Department of Hospital Administration, PGIMER, Chandigarh

2 Department of Community Medicine, Himalayan Institute of Medical Sciences, Dehradun, Uttarakhand

3 Department of Community Medicine, PGIMER, Chandigarh, India

Abstract
INTRODUCTION: Financial support system available to geriatric populations affects their adherence
level to the prescribed treatment leading to a rise in chronic disease burden.
OBJECTIVE: The aim of this study was to ascertain the disease pattern, health expenditure, and
adherence to the prescriptions among geriatric patients reporting to a hospital in North India.
METHODOLOGY: This descriptive, cross‑sectional study was conducted from July 2017 to June
2018. Patients who were 60 or above years in age, already diagnosed and were on treatment for
more than 3 months were included in the study. A total of 310 patients were selected using convenient
sampling method. Data were collected by a pretested and validated questionnaire.
RESULTS: The mean age of the patients was 66.16 years ± 5.37 years (54.8% males). Monthly
average family income was Rs. 15202.97 ± 1134.63. Overall, 25% of the treatment cost was met
through various social schemes (52% = pension scheme, 32% of patients had no such schemes
and only 2% through health insurance schemes). Rest was out‑of‑pocket expenditure. Common
diseases were hypertension (60.64%), diabetes mellitus (35.8%), cancer (28.38%), and coronary
artery disease (22.58%). More than half (52.9%) of the patients had two or more illnesses; about
35.8% of them were taking treatment for 1–5 years. Moderate adherence was observed among the
majority of the patients. Statistically significant (P < 0.05) difference in treatment adherence to the
prescriptions was observed.
CONCLUSION: Geriatric patients had many chronic morbidities. They had high out‑of‑pocket
expenditure and suboptimal financial support affecting their level of adherence to the prescriptions.

Keywords

Adherence
chronic morbidities
geriatric
out‑of‑pocket expenditure
social schemes
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Journal of Education and Health Promotion
Volume 9, Issue 12
December 2019
Pages 1-7

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