Introduction
In this editorial, brief updates were highlighted based on the national statistical data about aged population in our country.According to the recent Turkish Statistical Institute recording system, percentage of the aged population in Turkey has been 8.2% of the total by December 2015 (1). With this percentage, Turkey is the 66th country among 167 globally. Countries with the highest rates were Monaco (30.4%), Japan (26.6%), and Germany (21.5%) (2).
In Turkey, the median aged increased to 31 in the same year (1). Crude birth rate was declared as 5.2 per 1000 population and almost half of deaths 49.5% were recorded for 75 years of and older people. At this age group, the number of deaths among men were higher as compared to women's deaths in number (3). People died most frequently due to circulatory systems diseases (40.3%), tumors (20%), and respiratory system diseases (11.1%) (4).
Due to the results of the Turkish Population and Housing Survey 2011, aged women who have reported at least one disability were recorded to be higher than men at the same age group. Frequency of 65-69 years of aged women who reported either difficulty or impossibility while conducting a facility was found to be 27.2% whereas the frequency was reported as 18.3% for the same age group among men. The percentage of women who have at least one type of disability was 36.3% in 70- 74 age group whereas the percentage was found to be 26.3% in men. The difference was more significant when age increases. Disability frequency among 75 years of age and older men was 40.9% and the number was 50.3% among women (5).
Unequal conditions occur for the aged population in Turkey. The three cities with the highest frequency of aged population was Sinop (18.1%), Kastamonu (16.8%) and Çank›r› (15.7%) where the lowest frequency was recorded for Hakkari and fi›rnak (3.1%) (2).
Poverty frequency among elderly people has been declared as 18.3%. When compared to previous years, the frequency increased among men and increased among women (2).
Only one out of 10 aged persons (11.5%) participated in the labor market (19.3% for men and 5.4% for women). Elderly people worked in mostly agriculture sector (74.1%) (2).
Such data gives significant clues about the aged population in Turkey. Careful analysis can contribute to produce realistic and sustainable solutions starting from today.