Elderly in Telangana suffer bone, joint issues

However, 72 per cent who received inpatient and 80 per cent of those who sought outpatient care, took up the services at private hospitals.
The report gives an idea of not just the mental and physical health but also socioeconomic condition of the elderly.
The report gives an idea of not just the mental and physical health but also socioeconomic condition of the elderly.

HYDERABAD: Telangana has the highest percentage of elderly population suffering from bone and joint diseases in the country. One in three elderly persons or around 33 per cent of the State’s elderly population suffers from bone and joint disease. 

Also, the State has the second-highest percentage of the elderly population suffering from neurological or psychiatric problems country, at 7 per cent.

Telangana also has one of the highest percentage of elderly population suffering from restrictive lung disease (46 per cent),  and usage of aids for disability (18 per cent). 

These are just some of the findings that have been reported in the Longitudinal Ageing Study in India Wave-I report, titled ‘An investigation of health, economic, and social well-being of India’s growing elderly population’. The report was released in Delhi on Wednesday by the Union Minister of Health and Family Welfare Dr Harsh Vardhan. 

The report gives an idea of not just the mental and physical health but also socioeconomic condition of the elderly. What is worrying is their dependence on private healthcare facilities.

According to the report, 8.9 per cent of the State’s elderly sought inpatient and 54.4 per cent sought outpatient services in the 12 months preceding the survey. 

However, 72 per cent who received inpatient and 80 per cent of those who sought outpatient care, took up the services at private hospitals. The mean expenditure on inpatient service that the elderly had to bear was Rs 51,870 and for outpatient services, it was Rs 2,277.

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