Economic gradient of onset of disability in India

Abstract

Background Disability in India is associated with increasing non-communicable diseases, rising longevity, and increasing accidents and injuries. Though studies have examined prevalence, patterns, and socioeconomic correlates of disability, no attempt has been made in estimating age of onset of disability in India. Objective This paper investigates the economic gradient of age of onset of locomotor, visual, hearing, speech, mental retardation, mental illness, and other disabilities in India. Method We use nationally representative data of 106,894 disabled individuals from the 76th round of National Sample Survey (NSS), 2018. Descriptive statistics, kernel density, Kaplan-Meier survival curves, and linear regression models are used in the analysis. Result The disability rate in India was 2184 per 100,000 persons. The disability rate was highest for locomotor (1353) followed by hearing (296), visual (234), speech (228), mental retardation (158), and mental illness (131). Over 85% of mental retardation and 80% of speech disabilities occur at birth, while 82% of locomotor and 81% of visual disabilities occur after birth. Among those who had disability after birth, the median age for mental retardation was 2 years followed by mental illness (28 years), speech (29 years), locomotor (42 years), visual (55 years), and 56 years for hearing disability. Adjusting for socioeconomic covariates, the age of onset of locomotor and speech disabilities among the poorest individuals were 7 and 11 years earlier than the richest, respectively. Conclusion The economic gradient of onset of locomotive and speech disabilities are strong. The age of onset of disability was earliest for mental retardation followed by mental illness and speech disability.

Profile of patients coming to the department of physical medicine and rehabilitation for locomotor disability certification: a 5-years observational study

“…1 To our knowledge, this is the first study to find out the disability trend of locomotor disability and describe the clinical and demographic characteristics in India. 13 This gradient was strongest for locomotor and speech disabilities. Disabled individuals are more vulnerable to economic disempowerment than non-disabled individuals.…”

Socioeconomic and geographic variations of disabilities in India: evidence from the National Family Health Survey, 2019–21

“…Based on the prior literature, we included individual, demographic, and household variables as possible confounders [ 12 , 14 , 16 , 21 , 30 ]. Age is categorised as 0–9 years, 10–19 years, 20–29 years, 30–39 years, 40–49 years, 50–59 years, and 60 + years.…”

“…Moreover, families living with disabled members have a higher chance of incurring catastrophic health expenditures, leaving them in poverty [ 23 ]. Ample evidence from India indicated socioeconomic variation of disability [ 14 , 24 – 27 ]. Along with higher poverty and inequality in India, there was striking geographical variation in the level of development across states and districts [ 28 , 29 ].…”

Unveiling non-communicable disease trends among Indian states: predicting health outcomes with socioeconomic and demographic factors

“…First, the aging population is more vulnerable to NCDs, and increased life expectancy does not necessarily convert into healthy years (LASI Wave 1 Report, 2020). Second, the increasing prevalence of chronic NCDs among younger individuals is accountable for a rise in the years lived with disability among this age group, consequently impacting their productivity (Banerjee et al, 2019;Mishra et al, 2021;Mohanty et al, 2021). The burden of NCDs causes severe socioeconomic impacts in India, whereas the diversity in SED across regions leads to diversity in the prevalence of the diseases, hence broadening the role of SED statistics from explaining health patterns to actively forecasting the distribution within the nation.…”