Full Papershttp://ir.lib.ruh.ac.lk/xmlui/handle/iruor/73062024-03-29T00:21:17Z2024-03-29T00:21:17ZThe Impact of Gender and Age on Health and Quality of Life of Older People in Galle District, Sri LankaDe Silva, K.Liyanage, C.Wijesinghe, C.Perera, B.http://ir.lib.ruh.ac.lk/xmlui/handle/iruor/76912022-09-07T08:27:48Z2021-08-26T00:00:00ZThe Impact of Gender and Age on Health and Quality of Life of Older People in Galle District, Sri Lanka
De Silva, K.; Liyanage, C.; Wijesinghe, C.; Perera, B.
Background: Sri Lanka’s population is rapidly aging. Quality of Life (QOL) of older people in
many countries is in jeopardy at present and Sri Lanka is no exception. QOL among the older
people is often associated with physical deterioration along with their health conditions.
Objectives: This paper describes QOL and health status of older people in Galle and the impact
of gender and age on QOL of them.
Methods: A cross sectional study was done using a random sample of older people aged 60
years and above living in Galle district. A pre-tested interviewer administered questionnaire was
used to collect data. Activities of Daily Living (ADL) scale, World Health Organization Quality
Of Life-BREF (WHOQOL-BREF) scale, Mini Mental Status Examination (MMSE) scale and
Center for Epidemiologic Studies depression scale (CES-D Scale) were used to collect data.
These scales were validated and used in community surveys in Sri Lanka. Health status was
measured by assessing health conditions using available health records. Descriptive statistics
and t-test were used in the analysis. Ethical approval was obtained from the Ethics Review
Committee, Faculty of Medicine, University of Ruhuna, Galle, Sri Lanka.
Results: A total of 396 older people participated in the study. Mean age of the participants was
69 (±7.2) years, and the majority were females (n = 268, 67.7%). Hypertension, cardiovascular
diseases, diabetes, joint related diseases and vision problems were common in this target
population. Older women were more likely than older men to suffer from joint related disease
and older men were more likely than older women to suffer from cardiovascular diseases and
hearing deficiencies. There was no gender difference of the mean ADL values, but those of aged
70 or more years reported slightly lower mean ADL value than those of 60-69 years (98.46 vs
99.60, p < 0.01). No gender or age differences of the mean CES-D values and mean MMSE
scores were found. The mean value of QOL of younger older people were slightly higher than
that of others (308.4 vs 296.6, p < 0.01), but no gender difference was found.
Conclusion: Cardiovascular diseases, diabetes, arthritis and vision problems are prevalent in
older people in Galle. Health authorities should pay attention to reduce incidence rates of these
diseases and particular attention should be paid to provide healthcare facilities to older women
with joint diseases. Interventions that support active lifestyle in older people in advanced ages
would probably facilitate them to enhance their QOL.
2021-08-26T00:00:00ZRisk Factors and Comorbidities Associated with Fragility Hip Fracture among Fragility Hip Fracture Patients Admitted to Teaching Hospital KarapitiyaAbeygunasekara, T.Lekamwasam, S.Lenora, J.Alwis, G.http://ir.lib.ruh.ac.lk/xmlui/handle/iruor/76902022-09-07T08:51:21Z2021-08-26T00:00:00ZRisk Factors and Comorbidities Associated with Fragility Hip Fracture among Fragility Hip Fracture Patients Admitted to Teaching Hospital Karapitiya
Abeygunasekara, T.; Lekamwasam, S.; Lenora, J.; Alwis, G.
Background: Hip fracture, the most sinister clinical outcome of osteoporosis, is associated with
disability, hospitalization, multi-morbidity and death. Many Asian countries lack an effective
and coordinated system to detect high fracture risk patients early.
Objective: To identify risk factors and comorbidities associated with hip fracture (HF) among
patients admitted to Teaching Hospital Karapitiya (THK).
Methods: Patients with incident fragility HF (n=180) admitted to THK and age and sex
matched 348 subjects free of HF selected from the neighborhood of HF patients were included
in this case-control study. Only new hip fractures resulted from falls of standing height or less
were included. Hip fractures due to heavy injuries were excluded. Data were collected using an
interviewer-administered questionnaire.
Results: The two groups were similar with regards to smoking, alcohol consumption and the
usage of glucocorticoids. The prevalence of any type of previous fragility fracture (7.8% vs
3.4%) and family history of fragility fracture (8.9% vs 3.4%) were higher in the HF patients
(p<0.05 and p<0.01). The 66.7% of HF patients had one or more comorbidities (83.9%,
p<0.01). The HF patients had a greater prevalence of comorbidities such as peripheral vascular
disease, cerebrovascular disease, peptic ulcer disease, liver diseases, neoplasm, hypertension,
bronchial asthma, vision impairment and hearing impairment at the time of hospitalization
(p<0.01).
Conclusions: This study revealed several risk factors of HF in the local population. Such
information can be used in the development of a risk score to detect those with high fracture risk
in the local population.
2021-08-26T00:00:00Z