ARE HEALTH SURVEYS AMONG ELDERLY PEOPLE WORTHWHILE - THE ALBERTINA PROJECT

Objective - To study the need for health screening among elderly peopl e. Setting, design and subjects - A random sample of 605 people 75 yea rs or older from the general population of Uppsala, Sweden, received a postal questionnaire on health issues, and a random subsample of 101 persons were offered a health survey. Main outcome measures - Symptoms and signs of disease in questionnaire or at health examination. Resul ts - Thirty-nine people came to the health examination at the primary health care centre (PHCC), 15 were examined in their homes, and 11 wer e interviewed by telephone. Seventy-eight findings were made in the PH CC group, out of which 60 were known by the proband and 18 were new. I n ten cases some action was taken. Of the 54 people examined, 50 perso ns had one or several findings. The most prevalent problems were hyper tension, urinary incontinence, and hearing problems. However, few of t hese problems warranted referral to a general practitioner or hospital . Conclusions-It appears that a health survey of elderly people yielde d little new information on the state of health among those surveyed a t the time of the data collection. The bearing on the present-day situ ation is discussed.