ORIGINAL RESEARCH ARTICLE
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Open Access Article
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Socio-Demographic Profile and Morbidity Pattern of Patients in
A Rural Field Practice Area of Government Medical College,
Miraj, Maharashtra
Vikas D Kshirsagar1, Shekhar S Rajderkar2, Shivaji Aldar3, Sonali Wetam3
Financial Support: None declared
Conflict of Interest: None declared
Copy Right: The Journal retains the
copyrights of this article. However, reproduction is permissible with due
acknowledgement of the source.
How to cite this article:
Kshirsagar VD, Rajderkar SS, Aldar S,
Wetam S. Socio-Demographic Profile
and Morbidity Pattern of Patients in A
Rural Field Practice Area of Government Medical College, Miraj, Maharashtra. Natl J Community Med 2019;
10(5): 308-311
Author’s Affiliation:
1Associate Professor; 2Professor; 3Junior
Resident, Community Medicine, Govt.
Medical College, Miraj, Miraj
Correspondence
Dr. Shekhar S Rajderkar
rajderkar1957@yahoo.co.in
Date of Submission: 15-03-19
Date of Acceptance: 12-04-19
Date of Publication: 31-05-19
ABSTRACT
Introduction: The shifting trend of diseases from communicable to
non-communicable diseases pose a dual threat in India will also add
to the burden of morbidity. In view of this, the present study was
conducted to assess the common morbidity pattern among the rural
population of Maharashtra.
Material and methods: A cross sectional study were conducted
among the rural population of field practice area of Government
Medical College, Miraj, Maharashtra. The study was conducted
from 1st January 2018 to 31st December 2018. Patients attending Out
Patient Department (OPD) services of Rural Health Training Centre
and willing to participate in the study were included. Data on the
current morbidity among the patients attending OPD services was
gathered by the health workers. Analysis was conducted using the
percentages.
Results: It was observed that majority of patients attended the OPD
services were females i.e. 54.3% and 45.7% patients were males. The
most common morbidity observed among the participants was respiratory infections i.e. 29.8%. Other morbidities seen were musculoskeletal diseases in 17.3% participants, nutritional problems in
17.1% participants and non-communicable diseases in 13.6% study
subjects.
Conclusion: The study revealed dual burden of communicable as
well as chronic and non-communicable diseases in the rural population.
Key words: Socio-demographic profile. Morbidity
INTRODUCTION
As per WHO, health has multidimensional concepts. The spectral concept of health emphasizes
that the health of an individual is not static; it is a
dynamic phenomenon and a process of continuous
change, subject to frequent subtle variations. A direct relationship has been observed between the
health of an individual and human resources development and economic development of a nation.
From the time of Alma Ata declaration to achieve
"Health for All by 2000", lot of planning, effort and
public expenditure had been devoted to improve
the health of the people both in rural and urban areas in India. In spite of taking many efforts, India is
having a high burden of morbidity1.
Due to industrialization and the persisting inequality in health status of different states, India currently
face a “Triple burden of diseases”, which are the unfinished agenda of communicable diseases, emerging non-communicable diseases related to lifestyles
and emerging infectious diseases2. India has experienced improvements in the nutritional status,
health infrastructure, social development and control of major killer diseases. But inter-state, urban-
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rural, male-female inequalities are clearly viewed as
a major public health challenge in this country3. Due
to such different diversities, the morbidity pattern
among the population varies in different geographic areas. At the same time, the shifting trend
of diseases from communicable to non-communicable diseases pose a dual threat in India will also add
to the burden of morbidity4.
Life expectancy at birth for males and females will
increase by 10 years and 11 years respectively from
2006– 2051 as per “Morbidity and health care”
schedule of NSSO 60th round survey and the proportion of elderly are expected to increase at a rapid
pace than younger population because of slow decline rate5. Whether the years added to life due to
increased life expectancy also attribute to the increased burden of morbidity in our population is a
concern for policy makers in India. In view of this,
the present study was conducted to assess the common morbidity pattern among the rural population
of Maharashtra.
MATERIAL AND METHODS
A cross sectional study was conducted among the
rural population of field practice area of Government Medical College, Miraj, Maharashtra. The rural health training centre caters services to a population near about 19,550. The study was conducted
from 1st January 2018 to 31st December 2018. Patients
attending the Out Patient Department (OPD) of Rural Health Training Centre and willing to participate
in the study were included. A written informed consent was taken from the participants. The patients
who attended OPD for receiving preventive services like immunization services and antenatal care
were excluded from the study. A pre-tested, pre-designed questionnaire was used to interview the participants and gather information about the socio-demographic variables by the healthcare workers. The
questionnaire was developed; pilot testing was carried out and then used in the study to gather information about the participants. Data on the current
morbidity among the patients attending OPD services was gathered by the health workers.
The socio-economic status of the patients was classified according to modified B.G. Prasad classification6. The other socio-demographic parameters
were gathered from the study participants. The data
was entered in the Microsoft Excel sheet and analysis was done using the Epi –info software.
RESULTS
A total number of 13,279 patients attended the OPD
services for various morbidities during the period
from 1st January 2018 to 31st December 2018. The
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socio-demographic parameters of the study participants were depicted in Table 1.
It was observed that majority of patients attended
the OPD services were females i.e. 7210 i.e. 54.3%
and 6069 i.e. 45.7% patients were males. In the present study, a large number of patients i.e. 3774
(28.4%) were in the age group of 60 years and above
followed by under five children i.e. 2727 (20.5%)
and 2017 (15.18%) in age group from 25 to 34 years.
Majority of the patients in the study belong to lower
middle socio-economic status i.e. 4701 (35.4%)
whereas 3280 (24.7%) patients were in middle socioeconomic status, 2602 (19.6%) participants in lower
socio-economic status followed by 744 (5.6%) participants in upper socio-economic status.
Table 1: Demographic variables of study population
Socio-demographic variable
Gender
Male
Female
Age in years
Under 5
5-14
15-24
25-34
35-44
45-59
60 and above
Socio-economic status
Upper
Upper middle
Middle
Lower middle
Lower
Patients (%)
6069 (45.7)
7210 (54.3)
2727 (20.53)
1882 (14.2)
946 (7.12)
881 (6.63)
1052 (7.92)
2017 (15.2)
3774 (28.4)
744 (5.6)
1952 (14.7)
3280 (24.7)
4701 (35.4)
2602 (19.6)
Table 2: Disease pattern among different age
groups
Morbidity
Respiratory infections
Diarrhoeal diseases
Nutritional problems
Skin infections
Musculoskeletal diseases
Gynaecological and obstetric conditions
Non communicable diseases
Ocular conditions
Injury
Other conditions
Cases (%)
29.8
5.9
16.6
1.3
17.3
2.6
13.6
1.4
2.4
8.6
As seen from table 2, the most common morbidity
observed among the participants was respiratory
infections in 3957 i.e. 29.8%. In the study, other morbidities seen were musculoskeletal diseases in 2295
i.e.17.3% participants, nutritional problems in 2272
i.e. 17.1% participants and non-communicable diseases in 1819 i.e. 13.6% study subjects.
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Table 3: Disease pattern among different age groups
Morbidity
Age group (Years)
Under 5
5-14
Respiratory infections
1034 (37.9) 987 (52.4)
Diarrhoeal diseases
431 (15.8) 119 (6.3)
Nutritional problems
892 (32.7) 543 (28.8)
Skin infections
54 (2)
21 (1.1)
Musculoskeletal diseases
49 (1.8)
86 (4.6)
Gynaecological & obstetric conditions __
__
Non communicable diseases
__
__
Ocular conditions
9 (0.3)
9 (0.5)
Injury
121 (4.4)
38 (2.0)
Other conditions
137 (5)
79 (4.1)
Total
2727
1882
15-24
453 (47.9)
33 (3.5)
137 (14.5)
39 (4.1)
57 (6.0)
12 (1.3)
7 (0.7)
14 (1.5)
79 (8.3)
115 (12.2)
946
25-34
184 (20.9)
28 (3.2)
216 (24.5)
14 (1.6)
113 (12.8)
194 (22.0)
13 (1.5)
18 (2.0)
14 (1.6)
87 (9.9)
881
35-44
238 (22.6)
49 (4.6)
32 (3.0)
7 (0.7)
284 (27)
57 (5.4)
117 (11.1)
17 (1.6)
18 (1.7)
233 (22.1)
1052
45-59
290 (14.4)
21 (1.0)
14 (0.7)
23 (1.1)
643 (31.9)
49 (2.4)
784 (38.9)
14 (0.7)
5 (0.2)
174 (8.6)
2017
60 & above
771 (20.4)
102 (2.7)
438 (11.6)
14 (0.4)
1063 (28.2)
33 (0.9)
898 (23.8)
109 (2.9)
43 (1.1)
303 (8.0)
3774
Figure in parenthesis indicate percentage.
diseases peak was observed in June and July
months i.e. monsoon months.
800
700
600
500
DISCUSSION
400
300
200
100
Respiratory infections
Dec
Nov
Oct
Sept
Aug
July
June
May
April
March
Jan
Feb
0
Diarrhoeal diseases
Figure 1: Trend of respiratory infections and diarrhoeal diseases in study subjects
As seen from table 2, the most common morbidity
observed among the participants was respiratory
infections in 3957 i.e. 29.8%. In the study, other morbidities seen were musculoskeletal diseases in 2295
i.e.17.3% participants, nutritional problems in 2272
i.e. 17.1% participants and non-communicable diseases in 1819 i.e. 13.6% study subjects. The other
morbidities observed in the study were diarrhoeal
diseases, gynaecological and obstetric conditions,
skin diseases, injury, ocular conditions and other
diseases.
The common morbidities seen in childhood were
respiratory infections, nutritional problems, diarrheal diseases, injuries etc. In the geriatric age
group, the most common morbidities observed
were musculoskeletal diseases, non-communicable
diseases.
Figure 1 shows the seasonal trends of respiratory infections and diarrhoeal diseases in the study participants. It was observed that the peak for respiratory
tract infection was more in November and December months i.e. winter months whereas diarrhoeal
The present study was carried out to observe morbidity pattern among the participants which revealed that there were a greater number of female
participants as compared to male participants. In a
study carried out by Mane V et al 7 in a study carried
out at Vadodara found that male participants were
more in the age group less than 15 years and older
age whereas female participants outnumbered in all
other age groups. The similar findings were found
in the study carried out by Mane V et al7 and Datta
A et al1 in Tripura. Some studies found the proportion of male participants were more as compared to
female participants on the contrary to our findings8,9. A large number of geriatric participants contributed to the present study whereas the other
study by Mane V et al6 revealed that 75% of the participants were in the age group from 15-59 years
which is considered as economically productive age
group. In a study carried out by Datta A et al 1 and
Mane V et al 6, it was found that majority of the participants were in the lower middle class and our
study participants were consistent to the present
study.
The present study also revealed communicable diseases to be the commonest type of morbidity, majority (29.8%) suffering from respiratory infections.
Although non-communicable diseases were also
not far having the proportion being 13.7% and this
dual burden of diseases is similar to the national
picture.10,11 The dual burden of communicable diseases and non-communicable diseases is seen in developing countries due to globalization and epidemiological transition12. Similar findings were observed in the present study showing double burden
of diseases. In a study carried out by Hameed S et
al13 in Rural Karnataka showed Major morbidities
of the elderly population were impaired vision
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followed by hypertension and joint problems. In the
present study, common morbidities seen in geriatric
population were musculoskeletal diseases, noncommunicable diseases and such findings were in
consistent with the studies carried out by Jacob et al,
Gaur et al and Padda et al14,15,16.
A study conducted in Government Medical College,
Chandigarh17, revealed similar seasonal variation as
most cases of ARI being reported in winter, ADDs
(38.89%) in the monsoon season. In the present
study the findings observed were peak of respiratory tract infections was more in winter months and
that of diarrhoeal diseases in winter months and
similar observations were found in the study carried out by Kumari R et al18. A larger study population observed over a longer period of time would
provide us a clearer picture, and such data on the
seasonality of the diseases would assist in the planning and implementation of control measures.
CONCLUSION
The study revealed dual burden of communicable
as well as chronic and non-communicable diseases
in the rural population with females being more affected with various morbidities. Further evaluation
of factors responsible for the burden of diseases is
required so that preventive measures can be taken
in future.
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