Ethnic Distribution of Self-Reported Chronic Diseases among the Elderly in Taiwan

臺灣老年人口自覺之慢性疾病之族群分佈

董和銳(Ho-Jui Tung)

《身心障礙研究季刊》 2卷4期 (2004/07) Pp. 202-213

摘要

對老年人而言，慢性疾病是導致身心障礙的重要危險因子。而對於重要危險因子的掌握有助於公共衛生專業人員發展適當的介入措施來延緩身心障礙的發生。本研究利用分析「臺灣老人保健與生活長期追蹤調查」資料(N=2480)，比較台灣的外省籍與本省籍老人在自覺的慢性疾病與症狀的盛行與發生情形，並利用分層分析的方法來檢視慢性病與族群之間的相關，年齡、性別與教育程度是分層分析變項。研究結果顯示，不論是外省或本省籍的老人，高血壓、背痛及心臟方面的問題及關節炎是台灣老年人最常見的慢性疾病。而外省籍老人在許多慢性的盛行率上面都較本省籍老人來的高。本研究認為，本省籍老人較低的慢性病盛行狀況可能是本省籍老人低報或不清楚這些調查問卷所問的慢性疾病。公共衛生專業人員應注意不同族群老人可能存在疾病認知上，還有醫療可近性上的差異。

關鍵字

台灣 ； 老人 ； 自覺慢性疾病 ； 疾病盛行 ； 族群

並列摘要

Chronic diseases are important risk factors in predicting subsequent disabilities. By identifying risk factors of disabilities, intervention strategies in slowing or delaying disabilities can be developed. Data from two waves of a longitudinal survey (N=2480) were analyzed to see if there are disparities in the prevalence and incidence of self-reported chronic diseases. Stratified analyses were conducted to examine the relationship between chronic diseases and ethnicity. All associations were examined at each of the combination strata of age, gender, and education levels. Both the prevalence and cumulative incidence were examined and the Mantel-Haenszel Test was used to determine the associations between diseases and ethnicity in each strata. Results show that, regardless of ethnicity, hypertension, heart problem, back pain and arthritis were some of the most prevalent chronic conditions among the elderly. In terms of the ethnic distribution of these chronic conditions, it appears that Mainlander elders were more afflicted than their Taiwanese counterparts. This study concludes that the lower prevalence of self-reported chronic diseases among Taiwanese may be, in part, due to an underreporting of health problems measured by the survey questionnaire. Public health professionals should be aware that different illness perceptions and inequalities in the health delivery system might exist across ethnicity.

並列關鍵字

elderly ； prevalence ； ethnicity ； chronic diseases ； Taiwan

參考文獻

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