EVALUATION OF THE ELDERLY AT OKEHI’S MEDICAL OUTREACH

Globally the health burden of older adults is growing and the rural areas are equally affected. Knowledge of the health status of the elderly in any locale will enable proper management of their health.The aims is to evaluate the health status of the elderly in Okehi, town in Etche Local Government area in Rivers State, Nigeria. This was a cross-sectional descriptive study of older adults who attended a two day medical outreach at Okehi, Etche in Rivers State which took place from 25th to 26th July 2023. The elderly constituted 25.4% of those who attended the medical outreach. Females showed a slight preponderance constituting 53.2% of the older adult population at the outreach. The modal age group was 65-74 (45.1%). Majority of the persons were farmers (59.1%), married (79.2%) and most (51.4%) had at least primary school education. Malaria (13.4%) arthritis (13.9%), hypertension (23.5%) and eye disorders (24.6%) were the highest morbidity participants. A great number (74.1%) had at least two morbidities while about 5.7% of them had no obvious medical challenges. Majority of the older adults at Okehi, Etche had multiple morbidities. Health care in the rural areas should be prioritised.