Investigating the Causes of Hospitalization of the Elderly in Imam Khomeini Hospital in Jiroft, Iran, in 2018

With age, the prevalence of diseases, especially chronic diseases, increases in the elderly and, therefore, the elderly are the main recipients of health services. This study was done with the aim of determining the causes of hospitalization of the elderly in Imam Khomeini Hospital, Jiroft, Iran.

This research was cross-sectional-descriptive. 358 elderly people, who referred to Imam Khomeini Hospital in Jiroft in 2018, were selected, using random sampling, and examined. The required information was extracted from patients' records and recorded in a researcher-made checklist. Data were analyzed using SPSS software version 20 and descriptive and analytical statistical tests.

The findings of this study showed that 152 (42.5%) of the research samples were in the age range of 60-69 years. The most common chief complaints of the study samples were shortness of breath (14.5%), chest pain (11.5%), and vision loss (11.2%), respectively. The most common causes of hospitalization were cataracts (11.2%), angina pectoris (8.1%), and heart failure (6.1%), respectively.

The most common causes of hospitalization of patients were cataract and angina pectoris. It seems that it is necessary to include the essential educational and screening programs in these fields in the integrated health care program for the elderly.