Health status and its influencial factors among rural elderly in Zhejiang province

Objective To explore health status and its influencial factors among rural elderly in Zhejiang province and to provide basis for setting up a new rural community health service model.Methods Totally 2 184 elders aged≥60 years were selected with randomly stratified cluster sampling and surveyed with a self-designed questionnaire and activities of daily life(ADL) scale.Results Among the elderly,the two weeks prevalence of diseases was 53.9%(1 107/2 184),of which 83.4%(981/1 007) had chronic diseases lasting more than 2 weeks.The total chronic disease prevalence was 68.1%(1 494/2 184) and the top five diseases were hypertension(46.9%,701/1 494),arthritis(9.2%,137/1 494),diabetes(5.8%,87/1 494),gastroenteritis(5.6%,84/1 494),and coronary heart disease(5.2%,78/1 494).There were 71.4% of the elderly with normal score of ADL and the daily life ability of the male was higher than that of the female.Family income,general demographic factors had important influence on the two weeks prevalence,prevalence of chronic disease,and ADL score.Conclusion The two weeks disease prevalence in rural elders of Zhejiang provice was higher than that of other areas,but the normal rate of ADL score was higher than that of other areas.The rural elderly had burdens of chronic diseases and infectious disease.