DETERMINANTS OF PRESCRIBING FOR THE ELDERLY IN PRIMARY HEALTH CARE
The population in the area covered by Rabwah PHC center is 27,042 of whom 85% were registered in the center. The elderly account for 2671 (9.8%) in this populace.

The study sample is composed of 100 registered elderly patients 50 male and 50 female patients selected randomly. This number represents 3.7% of the elderly population living in Rabwah. 

Physicians working in Rabwah PHC center interviewed all patients. 
The data was entered and analyzed in a personal computer using "Data Star Software for data entry "Systat" Software-version 9" for statistical analysis .

Results:
The total number of elderly patients involved in the study was 100 out of which (50%) were females. The overall mean age was 66.8 year ± 5.8. (Between 60 to 85 years) (Table 1). Fifty one percent of patients are followed up in PHC center, while 49% of patients are being followed up in both PHC and hospital. 

Forty four percent of patients were found to have one disease while 32% of patients had two diseases. Patients who had three diseases or more accounted for 24%. Table 2 shows that more than half the sample size (56%) represented with at least two or more diseases.


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Table 1: Age - sex distribution of the elderly participants
Age group 
(year)

No. of patients (M=50, F=50)
Male (%)        Female (%)

 Total 
(100)
 60-69  28 (56%)  38 (76%)  66 (66%)
 70-79   19 (38%)  11 (22%)  30 (30%)
 ≥ 80  3 (6%)  1 (2%)  4 (4%)
 
Table 2: Number of diseases by sex in elderly patients involved in the study
Age group 
(year)

No. of patients (M=50, F=50)
Male (%)        Female (%)

 Total 
(100)
 One disease  21 (42%)  23 (46%)  44 (44%)
 Two diseases  11 (22%)  21 (42%)  32 (32%)
 Three diseases or
  more		  18 (36%)  6 (12%)  24 (24%)

The diagnosis most commonly seen in elderly patients was endocrine and metabolic diseases mainly diabetes mellitus followed by diseases of cardiovascular system CVS mainly hypertension. Musculoskeletal and joint diseases represented only 9% (Table 3). Forty three percent of patients are using only one medication (Table 4).