Hostname: page-component-cd9895bd7-hc48f Total loading time: 0 Render date: 2024-12-26T18:15:28.531Z Has data issue: false hasContentIssue false
  • English
  • Français

IS HEALTH STATUS OF ELDERLY WORSENING IN INDIA? A COMPARISON OF SUCCESSIVE ROUNDS OF NATIONAL SAMPLE SURVEY DATA

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  15 December 2010

ZAKIR HUSAIN  and
SASWATA GHOSH
ZAKIR HUSAIN
Affiliation:
Population Research Centre, Institute of Economic Growth, India
SASWATA GHOSH
Affiliation:
Institute of Development Studies Kolkata, India
Get access Rights & Permissions [Opens in a new window]

Summary

The increasing greying of India's population raises concerns about the welfare and health status of the aged. One important source of information of health status of the elderly is the National Sample Survey Rounds on Morbidity and Health Care Expenditure. Using unit-level data for 1995–96 and 2004, this paper examines changes in reported health status of the elderly in India and analyses their relationship with living arrangements and extent of economic dependency. It appears that even after controlling for factors like caste, education, age, economic status and place of residence, there has been a deterioration in self-perceived current health status of the elderly. The paper argues that, although there have been changes in the economic condition and traditional living arrangements – with a decline in co-residential arrangements – this is not enough to explain the decline in reported health status and calls for a closer look at narratives of neglect being voiced in developing countries.

Type
Research Article
Information
Journal of Biosocial Science , Volume 43 , Issue 2 , March 2011 , pp. 211 - 231
Copyright
Copyright © Cambridge University Press 2010

Access options

Get access to the full version of this content by using one of the access options below. (Log in options will check for institutional or personal access. Content may require purchase if you do not have access.)

References

Agewell Foundation (2010) Isolation in Old Age. Agewell Advocacy and Research Centre. URL: http://agewell-initiatives.blogspot.com/ (accessed 14th March 2010).Google Scholar
Alam, M. (2006) Ageing in India: Socio-economic and Health Dimensions. Academic Foundation, New Delhi.Google Scholar
Alam, M. (2008) Ageing, Socio-economic Disparities and Health Outcomes: Some Evidence from Rural India. Working Paper E/290/2008, Institute of Economic Growth, Delhi.Google Scholar
Alam, M. & Karim, M. (2006) Changing demographics, emerging risks of economic–demographic mismatch and vulnerabilities faced by the aged in South Asia: a review of situation in India and Pakistan. Asia Pacific Population Journal 21(3), 63–92.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Alam, M. & Mukherjee, M. (2005) Ageing, activities of daily living disabilities and the need for public health initiatives: some evidence from a household survey in Delhi. Asia Pacific Population Journal 20(2), 47–76.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Albert, S. M., Alam, M. & Nizamuddin, M. (2005) Comparative study of functional limitation and disability in old age: Delhi and New York City. Journal of Cross-Cultural Gerontology 20, 231–241.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Arifin, E. N. (2006) Living arrangements of older persons in east Java. Asia Pacific Population Journal 21(3), 93–112.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Bagchi, K. (ed.) (1997) Elderly Females in India; Their Status and Suffering. Society for Gerontological Research and Help Age, New Delhi.Google Scholar
Bali, A. (ed.) (1999) Understanding Greying People in India. Indian Council of Social Science Research, New Delhi.Google Scholar
Ball, R. & Bethell, T. (1998) Straight Talk about Social Security: An Analysis of the Issues in the Current Debate. A Century Foundation/Twentieth Century Fund Report. The Century Foundation Press, New York.Google Scholar
Beckett, M., Weinstein, M., Goldman, N. & Yu-Hsuan, L. (2000) Do health interview surveys yield reliable data on chronic illness among older respondents? American Journal of Epidemiology 151, 315–323.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Bose, A. & Shankardass, M. K. (2004) Growing Old in India: Voices Reveal, Statistics Speak. BR Publishing Company, New Delhi.Google Scholar
Brant, R. (1990) Assessing proportionality in the proportional odds model for ordered logit regression. Biometrics 46(4), 1171–1178.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Chan, A. (1997) An overview of the living arrangements and social support exchanges of older Singaporeans. Asia Pacific Population Journal 12(4), 35–50.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Chou, K. L. & Chi, I. (2002) Successful aging among the young-old, old-old and oldest-old Chinese. International Journal of Aging and Human Development 54, 1–14.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Gangrade, K. D. (1999) Emerging conception of aging in India – a socio-cultural perspective. In Bali, A. (ed.) Understanding Greying People in India. Indian Council of Social Science Research, New Delhi, pp. 36–57.Google Scholar
Ghosh, S. & Husain, Z. (2010) Economic independence, family support and perceived health status of elderly: recent evidences from India. Asia Pacific Population Journal 25(1), 47–77.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Gokhale, S. D. (2003) Towards a policy for aging in India. Journal of Aging & Social Policy 15(2/3), 213–234.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Government of India (2006) Report on the Social, Economic and Educational Status of Muslim Community in India. Prime Minister's High Level Committee, Cabinet Secretariat, New Delhi.Google Scholar
Guilmoto, C. Z. & Rajan, S. I. (2002) District level estimates of fertility from India's 2001 Census. Economic and Political Weekly 37(7), 665–672.Google Scholar
Gupta, I. & Sankar, D. (2003) Health of the elderly in India: a multivariate analysis. Journal of Health & Population in Developing Countries. URL: http://www.longwoods.com/home.php?cat=394o (accessed 12th March 2010).Google Scholar
Idler, E. L. & Benyamini, Y. (1997) Self-rated health and mortality: a review of twenty-seven community studies. Journal of Health and Social Behaviour 38, 21–37.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Idler, E. L. & Kasl, S. (1995) Self-ratings of health: do they also predict change in functional ability? Journal of Gerontology 50 B(6), S344–353.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Jagger, C., Spiers, N. A. & Clarke, M. (1993) Factors associated with decline in function, institutionalization and mortality in the elderly. Age and Ageing 22, 190–197.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Knodel, J. & Chayovan, N. (1997) Family support and living arrangements of Thai elderly. Asia Pacific Population Journal 12(4), 51–68.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Knodel, J. & Debavalya, N. (1997) Living arrangement and support among the elderly in South-east Asia: an introduction. Asia Pacific Population Journal 12(4), 5–16.Google Scholar
Kumar, P. V. (1999) Elderly women in rural India: need for policy intervention. HelpAge India 5(3), 27–30.Google Scholar
Kumar, V. (ed.) (1996) Indian Perspective and Global Scenario. All India Institute of Medical Sciences, New Delhi.Google Scholar
Kumar, V. S. (2003) Economic security for the elderly in india: an overview. Journal of Ageing and Social Policy 15(2–3), 45–65.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Lall, R. B. & Seal, S. C. (1949) General Rural Health Survey: Singur Health Centre 1944. All India Institute of Hygiene and Public Health, Kolkata.Google Scholar
Lee, Y. (2000) The predictive value of self assessed general, physical, and mental health of functional decline and mortality in older adults. Journal of Epidemiology and Community Health 54, 123–129.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Long, J. S. & Freese, J. (2006) Regression Models for Categorical Variables Using Stata, 2nd edition.Stata Press, College Station, TX.Google Scholar
McCallum, J., Shadbolt, B. & Wang, D. (1994) Self-rated health and survival: a seven year follow-up study of Australian elderly. American Journal of Public Health 84, 1100–1105.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Manton, K. G., Stallard, E. & Cordel, R. (1997) Changes in age dependence of mortality and disability: cohort and other determinants. Demography 34, 135–157.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Mini, G. K. (2009) Socioeconomic and demographic diversity in the health status of elderly of elderly people in a transitional society, Kerala, India. Journal of Biosocial Science 41(4), 457–467.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
National Sample Survey Organization (2006) Morbidity, Health Care and the Condition of the Aged. Report No. 507. Ministry of Statistics and Programme Implementation, Government of India, New Delhi.Google Scholar
Natividad, J. N. & Cruz, G. T. (1997) Patterns in living arrangements and familial support for the elderly in Philippines. Asia Pacific Population Journal 12(4), 17–34.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Nayyar, B. K. (1999) Changing role of the family in the care of the old. In Bali, A. (ed.) Understanding Greying People in India. Indian Council of Social Science Research, New Delhi, pp. 94–124.Google Scholar
Nyce, S. A. & Schieber, S. J. (2005) The Economic Implications of Aging Societies: The Cost of Living Happily Ever After. Cambridge University Press, Cambridge.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Palloni, A. (2001) Living arrangements of older persons. Population Bulletin of the United Nations, Special Issue (Living arrangements of older persons – Critical issues and policy responses) 42/43, 54–110.Google Scholar
Planning Commission (2001) National Human Development Report 2001. Government of India, New Delhi.Google Scholar
Rahman, M. O. & Barsky, A. J. (2003) Self-reported health among older Bangladeshis: how good a health indicator is it? Gerontologist 43, 856–863.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Rajan, S. I. (2006) Population Ageing and Health in India. The Centre for Enquiry into Health and Allied Themes (CEHAT), Mumbai.Google Scholar
Rajan, S. I. & Kumar, S. (2003) Living arrangements among Indian elderly: new evidence from National Family Health Survey. Economic and Political Weekly 38(3), 75–80.Google Scholar
Rajan, S. I., Misra, U. S. & Sarma, P. S. (1999) India's Elderly – Burden or Challenge? Sage Publications, New Delhi.Google Scholar
Schechter, S., Beatty, P. & Willis, G. B. (1998) Asking survey respondents aboul health status: judgment and response issues. In Schwarz, N., Park, D., Knauper, B. & Sudman, S. (eds) Cognition, Aging, and Self-reports. Taylor & Francis, Ann Arbor, MI, pp. 229–247.Google Scholar
Sen, A. K. (1985) Commodities and Capabilities. Oxford University Press, New Delhi.Google Scholar
Sen, A. K. (1993) Positional objectivity. Philosophy and Public Affairs 22(2), 126–145.Google Scholar
Sen, A. K. (2006) The possibility of social choice. In Agarwal, B., Humphries, J. & Robeyns, I. (eds) Capabilities, Freedom and Equality: Amartya Sen's Work from a Gender Perspective. Oxford University Press, New Delhi, pp. 369–419.Google Scholar
Sen, M. & Noon, J. (2007) Living arrangement: how does it relate to the health of the elderly in India? Paper presented at the Annual Meeting of the Population Association of AmericaNew York29–31st March 2007.Google Scholar
Smith, J. (1994) Measuring health and economic status of older adults in developing countries. Gerontologist 34, 491–496.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Sobieszczyk, T., Knodel, J. & Chayovan, N. (2002) Gender and Well-being among the Elderly in Thailand. PSC Research report No. 02-531. Population Studies Centre at the Institute of Social Research.Google Scholar
Sokolovsky, J. (2001) Living arrangements of older persons and family support in less developed countries. Population Bulletin of the United Nations, Special Issue (Living arrangements of older persons – Critical issues and policy responses) 42/43, 162–192.Google Scholar
Soldo, B. J. & Hill, M. (1995) Family structure and transfer measures in the health and retirement study: background and overview. Journal of Human Resources 30(5) (Supplement), S108–137.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Subrahmanya, R. K. A. (2005) Social Security for Elderly. Shipra Publications, New Delhi.Google Scholar
United Nations (2005) Population Challenges and Development Goals. Department of Economic and Social Affairs, Population Division, New York.Google Scholar
Visaria, P. (2001) Demographics of aging in India. Economic and Political Weekly 36(22), 1967–1975.Google Scholar
Wallace, R. B. & Herzog, A. R. (1995) Overview of the health measures in health and retirement study. Journal of Human Resources 30(5) (Supplement), S84–107.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Williams, R. (2006) Generalized ordered logit/partial proportional odds models for ordinal dependent variables. Stata Journal 6(1), 58–82.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
World Bank (1993) World Development Report: Investing in Health. Oxford University Press, Oxford.Google Scholar