IMPROVING LIVES THROUGH DATA ECOSYSTEMS

A report on the non-communicable diseases among the elderly was prepared using data from the South Africa Demographic and Health Survey 2016, the General Household Survey 2016 and the Mortality and causes of death 2016.

Findings from these sources show that there are more elderly from the black population group and the elderly are mainly living in Gauteng. The nutritional status of the elderly show that majority of the elderly are measured to be overweight/obese, with more women than men being overweight/obese. Overweight/obesity is more prevalent among the white population group. The elderly who perceived themselves as overweight/obese are the whites and those in the Western Cape. Generally, the elderly who were measured to be overweight/obese where more than those who perceived to be overweight/obese.

According to the SADHS and GHS, about half of the elderly are reported to have high blood pressure, with more females being hypertensive than males. The majority of the elderly are hypertensive as measured in the SADHS, but only half of them are taking medication.

Diabetes mellitus was reported in less than 20% of the elderly as reported by both the SADHS and the GHS. Elevated glucose levels were more prevalent among females. Elderly with elevated glucose levels were mostly found in the non-urban areas, those from the coloured population group and the elderly residing in KwaZulu-Natal.

Mortality and causes of death data show that diabetes mellitus is the main underlying natural cause of death among the elderly, followed by cardiovascular diseases. Hypertensive diseases, of which hypertension forms part of is the third leading underlying cause of death among the elderly. Females died from diabetes mellitus and hypertensive diseases more than their male counterparts. Diabetes mellitus is the leading cause of deaths for all population groups except for the whites. Provincially, diabetes mellitus was the leading cause of deaths in Western Cape, Eastern Cape and KwaZulu-Natal, while hypertensive diseases was the leading killer in Northern Cape, Free State and North West.