Health related needs of the elderly in Sabzevar city of Iran in 2018

Elderly people often have complex and unknown needs but we have not yet fully recognized them in accordance with international standards in our country. Therefore, the present study attempts to more accurately identify the types of fulfilled or unmet needs related to the health of the elderly in Sabzevar city using valid and specialized tools.

This descriptive cross-sectional study was performed on 240 elderly people over 60 years old without any cognitive problems in Sabzevar city in 2018. They were selected by systematic cluster sampling from population areas of 6 health centers in the city. Data were collected by a questionnaire consisting of two parts demographic and need assessment based on Cambrol standardized instrument (CANE) and were analyzed by SPSS v.21 and statistical methods.

The mean age of the study units was 68.1 ± 7.2. Based on the main findings of the study, the elderly with unmet needs ranked first in terms of benefits (23%), physical health (16%), medicine (15%), money / budget (14%), sight / hearing (10%). %), Daily activities (9.5%), nutrition (9%), mobility (9%), housekeeping (8%), caring for another (6%), mental comfort (5%) and They have savings (5%). On the other hand, the most fulfilled needs were medication (39%), physical illness (35%) and visual and hearing improvement (28%).

The results of the present study showed that the most unmet needs of the elderly were physical and then social needs and environmental needs were the least priority for them. Specialists, planners, and executives in the field of aging are increasingly focused on meeting the needs of the elderly in their physical and social issues, including physical health, nutrition and medication, vision and hearing, benefits, mobility, income and financial management.