Disability Distribution of Geriatric Patients Applying to the Board of Health for Disabled in a Rural Region

Abstract

Objective: To determine the demographic characteristics, disability ratios, and disability distribution of geriatric patients who applied to an educational research hospital in the rural region to receive a health board report in order to benefit from the disability rights. Materials and Methods: The hospital archive was searched and the records between 01/01/2016 and 31/12/2016 were examined. The demographic characteristics of the patients, whether they were "severely disabled" or not, the number of patients with disabilities according to organ systems were determined and the disability ratios were calculated based on the "Regulation on Disability Criterion, Classification and Health Board Reports for Disability". A list of diseases constituting the rate of disability was established and its numbers were determined. Results: Among the 699 geriatric patients who referred to the health board, 426 (60.9%) were female and 273 (39.1%) were male. The mean age of the patients was 77.62 +/- 7.74 years (minimum: 65, maximum: 104) (female: 78.07 +/- 7.54, male: 76.93 +/- 8.02), the mean disability ratio was 79.96 +/- 17.79% (10-100). The average disability ratio of females was 79.66 +/- 17.61% and the average disability ratio of males were 80.41 +/- 18.24%. There was no statistically significant difference between the male and female groups in terms of the mean disability ratio (p=0.239). Of the 202 (28.9%) patients who were considered to be severely disabled, 123 were female (60.9%) and 79 were male (39.1%). There was no statistically significant difference between male and female groups in severely disabled ratios (p=0.457). The first three organ systems constituting disability ratio in patients were the cardiovascular system, the musculoskeletal system, and the visual system. The number of patients with disabilities in the cardiovascular and musculoskeletal system was higher in women, but there was no statistically significant difference between the disability percentages of these systems. Conclusion: The highest rate of disability has been seen in the cardiovascular, musculoskeletal, and visual system in geriatric patients. In the practice of routine geriatric outpatient clinics, the pathologies of these organ systems should be evaluated in more detail and managed before creating disability.