Attitude to, Knowledge and Practice of Skin Care in Older Adults in Sarakhs City, and Prevalence of Some Skin Problems among Them

Introduction: Considering the effects of skin diseases on health, activities, and quality of life of older adults, the study was conducted with the aim of determining knowledge, attitude, and practice status in older adults of Sarakhs city about skin care and prevalence of some skin problems among them.   Methods: Totally 400 older adults aged 60 years and above (60-99 years) in a cross-sectional study were selected through cluster random sampling from urban and rural older adults in Sarakhs city, Razavi Khorasan Province, Iran. Data was collected through skin examination and a researcher-made questionnaire, which included four parts of demographic questions, attitude to, knowledge, and practice of skin care. Descriptive statistics, t-tests, analysis of variance, and Pearson correlation coefficient were used to analyze the data.   Results: The most commonly detected skin problem was dryness (30.25%) followed by pruritus (5.9%) and flaking of the skin (8.25%). Average knowledge score was 18.15 ± 7.59 (possible score range of 0-56), average attitude score was 27.13 ± 3.17 (possible score range of 12 to 36), and average practice score was 33.9± 8.30 (possible score range of 13-67). There was a positive significant correlation between scores of knowledge and attitude (r = 0.283, p < 0.001), knowledge and practice (r = 0.222, p < 0.001), as well as attitude and practice (r = 0.298, p < 0.001).   Conclusion: The commonest skin problems among older adults was skin dryness, pruritis and flaking. Knowledge and practice of skin care is at low level. An accurate and comprehensive training plan seems necessary to promote the level of these people’s knowledge and practices.

Keywords:

Knowledge , Attitude , Practice , Older adults , Care , Skin