Chronic disease prevalence and unmet health care needs among elderly people in Türkiye

Background: The burden of chronic disease and inequalities in access to health care among older adults in Türkiye’s rapidly aging population have become an increasingly significant public health concern. Aim: To evaluate the prevalence and determinants of chronic disease and unmet health care needs among adults aged ≥65 years in Türkiye. Methods: We collected data on the prevalence of 7 chronic diseases (asthma, coronary heart disease, stroke, hypertension, diabetes, depression, Alzheimer’s disease) and unmet health care needs for 3144 adults aged ≥65 years (mean age: 72.6±6.6 years) from the 2022 Türkiye Health Survey. We used SPSS version 22 to analyse the data; Pearson’s chi-square test was used to analyse associations between categorical independent variables and the presence of chronic diseases or unmet medical needs, independent samples t-test was used to compare mean body mass index values between groups, and binary logistic regression analysis was conducted to identify factors independently associated with unmet medical needs due to financial constraints. P < 0.05 was considered statistically significant. Results: Hypertension (53.3%; 95% CI: 51.6–55.0), diabetes (31.4%; 95% CI: 29.8–33.0) and coronary heart disease (19.4%; 95% CI: 18.1–20.9) were the most common conditions. Overall, 8.0% of the adults reported unmet medical needs due to cost. The odds of unmet need were significantly higher among individuals without social security (OR: 3.48; 95% CI: 2.17–5.59), and those with asthma (OR: 1.84, 95% CI: 1.35-2,51), coronary artery disease (OR: 1.76, 95% CI: 1.31-2.38) and depression (OR: 1.89, 95% CI: 1.29- 2.78). Gender, age and education were not significantly associated with chronic disease prevalence. Conclusion: Our findings show that older adults in Türkiye frequently experienced hypertension, diabetes and coronary heart disease, as well as unmet health care needs due to cost. There is a need for policies to strengthen social protection and improve access to health care among the study population.