Health Problems among Elderly in Nineveh province, Iraq

Abstract

Aging is a complex and dynamic process with intricately interrelated and inseparable  physiologic, psychological and sociological components. It is a normal process that implies continued growth, development, and adaptation until death .The aim of the study is to assess health problems related to quality of life among the elderly clients , and to identify the relationship between some characteristics of the elderly patients and health problems related to quality of life. The non-experimental approach and descriptive type are used in this study . The study is applied on three hospitals (Ibn-Sena Teaching Hospital, Al-Zahrawee Teaching Hospital and Al Salm Teaching Hospital), some primary health care centers, and public clinics in Mosul City.  Purposive  sample consists of (833) clients,(490) Male and (343) Femal who visited or admitted to the teaching hospitals, some primary health care centers, and public clinics in Mosul City. In older to collect the data of the study, a questionnaire was constructed depending on the previous studies and related literature review. The questionnaire consists of two Parts: Part one includes (7) items which focus on the elderly demographic characteristics such as (age, sex, marital status, occupation , level of education, duration and type of disease).Part two includes (4) main items that contain: ( independency , daily physical activities , psycho-social aspects and life of adaptation). In this study, the total questions include (73) items, in which three-scale options are used in the rating scale were: (2) for (Always), (1) for (Sometimes), and (0)for (Never) . Content validity was determined by presenting the questionnaire to a panel of (12) experts. Internal consistency of the questionnaire is assessed by calculating Cronbach's Coefficient alpha . The data analysis shows that there is a significant statistical interrelationship in health related quality of life (HRQoL) items that are related to: (independency, daily physical activities, psycho-social aspects and life of adaptation domains) .The researcher concludes that  (HRQoL) can be measured by instrument, and (the elderly's independency, daily physical activities, psycho- social aspects, and life of adaptation) are affected by their demographic characteristics (age, sex, martial status, level of education, and type of disease ). Depending on the findings and conclusions of the study, the researcher recommended further studies which could improve the instrument constructed by this study through aspects of validity, reliability, and quality of questions.