Objective: To assess the elderly's nutritional status, major health and socio-economic problems.
Design: A cross-sectional, descriptive study.
Setting: Hospitalised care, in Morogoro General Hospital, Morogoro, Tanzania.
Subjects: One hundred and twenty one elderly patients admitted in the hospital for various health problems between November 1998 and March 1999.
Results: Body Mass Index (BMI) ratios indicated that 26% of the subjects were suffering from Chronic Energy Deficiency (CED) of varying grades. Fourteen percent had CED grade I, 10% CED grade II and two per cent had CED grade III. The study ranked cardiovascular disorders and respiratory tract diseases the most prevalent diseases (30% and 28% respectively). These were followed by malaria (15%). Cardiovascular diseases were more prevalent among women than men while the respiratory diseases were opposite. The general tradition that African elderly people do live with and are taken care by their children seems to hold no longer, as the majority of the subjects (80%) either live alone or with their spouses only, while 14% lived with their relatives (including their children). The majority of the elderly did not have any regular income, and they depended on other people for their living.
Conclusion: As Tanzania undergoes demographic and economic transformations, the elderly are increasing while their welfare decreases. This has more effects on their health status. Old tradition of children living with their elderly is declining due to urbanisation, rural urban migration and the trend towards nuclear families. The government is urged to establish specific systems of taking care of this vulnerable group.