The Number of Chronic Diseases of Elderly People and Their Visits to a Family Health Centre: A Single Unit Retrospective Study

Abstract

Objective: The aim of this study is to determine the number of chronic diseases of individuals over 65 years of age enrolled in a family medicine unit and the frequency of chronic disease-related referrals to the family doctor.

Methods: The study was conducted retrospectively and the data of patients over 65 years of age registered in a family medicine unit between 2013-2020 were scanned. Patients were evaluated in terms of age, gender, all applications to family medicine unit, annual number of applications, and the number of chronic diseases.

Results: 456 patients were included in the study. 55.7% (n = 254) of the patients were female and 44.3% (n = 202) were male. The mean age of the patients was 73.24 ± 6.47 years. While 420 patients had at least one chronic disease, 36 patients had none. While 85.7% (n = 391) of the patients applied at least once in the last year, 1.8% (n = 8) never applied. A moderate positive correlation was observed between the number of chronic diseases and the annual average number of admissions (p <0.001; r = 0.422). A strong positive correlation was observed between the number of chronic diseases and the total number of admissions (p <0.001; r = 0.687).

Conclusion: Individuals over the age of 65 make frequent and irregular applications to the family medicine unit with the demand for health care in relation to the number of their chronic diseases. Family physicians should guide individuals over the age of 65 in terms of regular follow-ups of their chronic diseases.