General Health Status, Nutritional Status and Hematologic Profile of the Elderly in the Elderly Club, Chiang Mai Neurological Hospital
The objective of this study was to evaluate the general health status, the nutritional status and the hematological profile of the elderly in the elderly club Chiang Mai Neurological Hospital. Subjects were 209 elderly persons. Data was collected by interviewing and assessing hematological values from blood samples. Results revealed that 22 were males (10.53%) and 187 were females (89.47%). Most of them (56.94%) lived in Maung District. Systemic diseases observed in this subjects were as follows: hypertension was the most common (14.83%), diabetes the second (8.61%), followed by heart disease (6.22%). There was high percentage (57.89%) of systemic diseases in this subject group. The serum protein and albumin concentrations were used as the index for the nutritional status in this study. There were no significant changes in serum protein and albumin concentrations. The hematological profile revealed significant lower than normal values (p < 0.05) (hemoglobin 13.3 + 1.41gm / d * L low hematocrit 40.1 + 3.52% ) while significantly higher than normal value of white blood cell (7.88+ 2.45 * 10 ^ 3 cell/cu.mm) was found ( p < 0.05). Differential count of white blood was found to be within normal limit. Significantly increase in eosinophil (eosinophilia) was found in 22.97% of this subjects (p < 0.05 ). Changes in red blood cell morphology with low hemoglobin (10.97 + 1.29gm / d * L) were also observed in 7.8% of the studied group. It is concluded that our findings would be of value to use as the preliminary data for the elderly persons in Chiang Mai. In addition, the significant increase in the eosinophil and changes in the red blood cell morphology and number might serve to explain the changes in the oral cavity especially the oral soft tissue.
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