ETHNIC-INFLUENCE ON HEALTH AND DEPENDENCY OF ELDERLY INNER-CITY RESIDENTS

The objectives of the study were to assess and compare the social char acteristics, prevalence of disease, health needs, dependency and use o f health services by elderly people in the different ethnic groups liv ing in an inner city. A prevalence study was conducted using a questio nnaire administered to people aged 65 years and over living at home, s elected from the registers of inner city general practices in West Bir mingham. Contact was made with 736 individuals from the original sampl e of 1,450 names, and completed questionnaires were obtained from 669 individuals (297 men, 372 women). Respondents were divided by place of birth into four groups: UK, Asia, West Indies, and 'Other'. Outcome m easures were demographic data, language, household composition, preval ence of disease and health problems, help with activities of daily liv ing, and contact with and knowledge of community health services. We f ound that those born in the UK were likely to be older, female, unmarr ied and living alone. In the Asian group, only 15% spoke English and 5 9% lived in a household with more than three other people compared wit h 4% in both the UK and West Indian groups. Hypertension was more comm on in West Indians, arthritis in Asians and diabetes mellitus more com mon in both groups than in the UK group. Asians were more likely to co mplain of poor vision. The level of dependency was similar in all grou ps despite age differences. Contact with community health services was low among Asians who also had a low awareness of the availability of these services. The conclusions from the study were that the average a ge of elderly individuals in ethnic minority groups is less than that of the indigenous population, making direct comparison difficult. Neve rtheless, they have a higher prevalence of age-related disease and a s imilar level of dependency. They are less well served by, and have lit tle knowledge of the existence of, community health services. For olde r Asians, difficulty in communicating with English-speaking health per sonnel is a major barrier to effective health care. Access to health c are by older people from ethnic minorities needs to be improved, and s ervices developed in a more culturally sensitive manner.