Domestic health hazards of the elderly resident in Cape Coast metropolis

Abstract

This study is a cross-sectional survey conducted in the Cape Coast Metropolis in the Central Region of Ghana in 2013 among 308 adults who were 65 years and above. The main objective was to investigate the domestic health hazards of the elderly with structured interview schedule. The descriptive analysis revealed that 64% of the sample had medium level of awareness on Domestic Health hazard (DHH) and fire source was the leading DHH (63.0%). It was also revealed that the elderly suffered stumbling within the last 12 months (39.6%). Bathroom was also found to be the most harmful location at home among 12.0% of the elderly while 56.8% suggested education as a means to reduce DHH. The inferential statistics revealed that one’s level of education had moderately positive association, with level of awareness of domestic hazards recording (r = 0.311, p < 0.05). There was also a moderately positive significant association (r = 0.426, p < 0.05) between number of hazards and number of accidents suffered. Relevant theories on ageing and accidents were reviewed and these led to the theoretical contributions to knowledge. Both person theory and dominion theory explained why the elderly suffered accidents at home and these have led to policy issues by the government. The study suffers some limitations in its choice of research area, the design, and instrumentation. There were suggestions made on preventing DHH and the accidents through structural home modifications and education on home dangers to the entire family.