偏遠礦區老人健康狀況及健康醫療資源使用之調查研究

Health Status and Health Resource Utilization among Older People in Rural Mining Area

本研究以橫斷性研究設計針對82名礦區65歲以上的老人予以一對一的訪談及收集資料，其目的在探討偏遠礦區老人健康狀況及健康醫療資源使用情形。結果發現，64.6%老人獨居或兩老單獨居住；70.0%老人患有一種以上慢性病，前三名的疾病種類為矽肺症、高血壓及白內障。近九成老人以西醫來治療慢性病。大多數老人可自行處理基本及工具性日常生活活動，但其中以打電話功能較差。健康危險因子篩檢中有25.6%為抽煙者，血壓偏高者佔25.6%，血糖偏高者佔14.6%；24.4%老人有心智功能障礙；31.7%的老人有憂鬱傾向。56.2%老人以衛生所為主要的健康醫療資源，多數老人定期參加當地民間中醫義診活動。偏遠礦區因醫療資源及衛生教育缺乏，主要依賴當地衛生所及民間團體活動尋求健康醫療資源。本研究結果提供偏遠礦區老人健康狀況及健康醫療資源使用情形，以建立礦區老人的健康資料庫，作為策劃社區健康服務計劃的依據，進而作為擬定衛生政策方向之參考。The purpose of this study was to assess health status and utilization of health resources among older people living in rural mining areas in Taiwan. Cross-sectional design was used to assess a sample of 82 participants aged 65 and over and data were collected by one-on-one interviews. Most of the participants lived alone (64.6%) and more than 70% had one or more chronic illnesses. The top three chronic illnesses were pneumoconiosis, hypertension, and cataract. Ninety percent of the elderly with chronic illness were treated with western medicine. Most of the participants had good functions in basic and instrumental activities of daily life, but the ability of making phone calls was slightly poor. The top health risk factors were smoking (25.6%), high blood pressure (25.6%), and high blood sugar (14.6%); 24.4% of the participants had cognitive impairment and 31.7 % were depressed. Over half of the participants (56.2%) depended on local public health center for their main medical resources. Majority of the participants attended Chinese medical mobile clinics hosted by volunteer groups. The results provided a baseline assessment data of the health status of older people living in the rural mining area and their utilization of health resources. This information can assist local health officials and community health nurses in developing better health policies and planning appropriate community health resources for the older people.