HEALTH STATUS OF GERIATRIC POPULATION IN RURAL AND URBAN AREAS OF VARANASI - A COMPARATIVE STUDY

Abstract

The purpose of this study was to assess the health-related problems of rural and urban geriatric population of Varanasi district. A survey-based cross-sectional study was carried out on total 1000 elderly of selected rural and urban areas of Varanasi district by multistage random sampling. Health related details of the re-spondents were gathered through an interview schedule. Most of the respondents were in the age group of 60 to 69 years. The prevalence of hypertension, heart diseases, respiratory diseases, and urinary diseases were significantly higher in rural areas than in urban areas, whereas the prevalence of diabetes mellitus, musculoskeletal problems, and gastrointestinal diseases were significantly higher in urban areas. This study revealed a significant variation in the health status of rural and urban elderly of Varanasi district. People need to be aware of old age and elderly to pay proper attention for better health care to make this later stage of life more pleasant and healthy.