An Approach of Initiating Geriatric Screening OPD at the Rural Health Training Centre of SMVMCH, Pondicherry

Objectives: To study the common chronic health problems among the elderly patients attending in recently initiated geriatric screening OPD at the RHTC. Material and Methods: Since one year, screening OPD has been started at RHTC of SMVMCH, for old patients (>60 years), twice a week. A team of trained medical interns, a post-graduate, a faculty in Community Medicine and a counselor screen and counsel the elderly patients for common medical and mental health problems. The screening tool is structured and has been adopted for patients of geriatric OPD at RHTC. The screening tool consist of General Health Questionnaire (GHQ-5), Psychosis screening, Alzheimer’s disease (AD8) questionnaire and checklist of common medical conditions. Patients were screened for early detection of health problems followed by counseling them/their caregivers and referral to specialty OPD for further care. Results: Total 512 elderly patients were screened over 4 months period from the start of geriatric OPD. Out of them, 276 (54%) and 117 (23%) were between the age group of 60-65 years and 66-70 years respectively. Among them 387 (75%) were below poverty line and 68 (13.3%) were having some kind of health insurance. GHQ score indicates that 255 (50%) patients had a score more than one and it was significantly higher among females compared to males. About 76 (16.8%) elderly had a score of > 1 for psychosis, out of which only 12 (14%) were referred to the higher centre. AD8 score shows 204 (40%) patients attended the clinic having a score more than 1 and it is significantly higher among females compared to males. Counseling for caregivers was given only in 13 (6%) of the patients with high AD8 score. Common chronic conditions present among them were joint pains (310, 60%), visual disturbances (247, 48%), hearing difficulty (120, 23.4%) and hypertension (107, 21%). Conclusion: The proportion of people with AD8 score more than 1 is high and most common chronic condition seen is joint pain. The action component of the clinic such as referral of dementia patients, psychosis patients and counseling of their care-givers need to be strengthened.