Background: The geriatric population is defined as the population aged 60 years and above. As the age advances, there is a high chance of having both physical and mental impairment. One of the important factors that influence the severity of disease among elderly is their health seeking behavior.
Objective: To study the factors determining the health seeking behavior among elderly.
Materials and Methods: A community-based cross-sectional study was conducted in field practice area of Father Muller Medical College. A sample size of 150 was chosen by purposive sampling method. A pretested questionnaire was used to collect the data. Statistical tests like Chi-square and regression analysis were used to find out the association.
Results: Of the total participants 67.3% were in the age group of 60-70 years. The majority were illiterate. 65.3% were suffering from chronic illness. Hypertension was the commonest chronic disease. The majority of the people who had chronic disease visited health facility regularly to keep track of their condition. Age was the only demographic factor which was significantly associated with health seeking behavior for chronic illness in our study.
Conclusion: Health seeking behaviour among elderly was better than the comparative studies may be because of better accessibility to health centers.
Key words: Elderly, Health seeking behavior, Rural area
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