Evaluation of Poor Self Rated Health among Older People in India from 2004 to 2014: a Decomposition Analysis

Shobhit Srivastava, International Institute for Population Sciences (IIPS)
Shekhar Chauhan , Florida State University

Background: The elderly population in India has increased significantly from 24.71 million in 1961 to 43.98 million to 104 million in 2011. There is an urgent need to study the health conditions of older people and also a need to examine which factors contribute more to poor Self-rated Health (SRH). It explores whether decadal variations in SRH can be attributed to the socio-economic context in which older people live. Methods: This study used two waves of the National Sample Survey Office (NSSO) data; 60th round (2004) and 71st round (2014). Concentration curve and concentration index were used to estimate the income inequality in and decomposition analysis to identify the key determinants of the inequalities in poor SRH. Results: There was a significant decrease in the relative decadal difference of 5.20% in reporting poor SRH among older people in India over the two time-periods. Economically dependent older people living alone had higher odds of reporting poor SRH than their counterparts. While wealth status was the main factor in reducing the inequality to poor SRH in 2004, education became the most important factor in reducing the inequality to poor SRH in 2014. Conclusion: Increasing age, rural place of residence, lower educational status, below poverty line status, and economic dependence were significantly associated with poor SRH among older people. These findings suggest that an effective way to reduce socio-economic related inequality is not only to have access to education but also to focus on improvements in health-related infrastructure in rural areas.

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 Presented in Session P2. Poster Session Ageing, Health and Mortality