Gender differences in the association between physical frailty and life satisfaction among older adults in India

Abstract

BackgroundOne of the sustainable development goals' (SDGs) primary goals (Goal 3) is to ensure healthy lives and promote well‐being for persons of all ages. While extensive literature documents the link between physical frailty and low life satisfaction (LLS) among older adults, research of this nature is limited within low and middle‐income countries including India. The purpose of this study was to examine the association between physical frailty and life satisfaction among community‐dwelling older men and women in India.MethodsData come from the 2017–18 wave 1 of the Longitudinal Ageing Study in India (LASI), with a sample of 30 390 individuals aged 60 and above (14 559 men and 15 831 women). Physical frailty was assessed using an adapted version of the frailty phenotype developed by Fried and colleagues. Ordered logistic regression models are employed to examine the association between physical frailty and life satisfaction.ResultsThe prevalence of frailty was higher in older women than men (32.2% vs. 27.5%). Nearly 30.4% of men and 33.8% of women reported having LLS. However, after adjusting for the selected confounders, women were less likely (adjusted odds ratio [aOR]: 0.92; CI: 0.87–0.97) to report LLS compared to men. The physically frail older adults were more likely (aOR: 1.40; CI: 1.27–1.55) to report LLS relative to their physically stronger counterparts. Moreover, we found that frail older men had higher odds of reporting LLS than non‐frail older men (aOR: 1.25; CI: 1.09–1.43). Also, non‐frail older women had lower odds of reporting LLS than non‐frail older men (aOR: 0.80; CI: 0.67–0.95).ConclusionsFindings of our study suggest that policies and programs to address later life well‐being need to consider gender differences. Doing so would not only help identify older adults most at risk of LLS, but gender differentiated policies would help streamline health expenditures and costs typically relegated to assist all older adults without proper focus on the uniqueness of their social location.

Exploring influential factors in the self-assessment of life satisfaction among Chinese elderly: a structural equation modeling analysis

“…The growing elderly population poses a great challenge to social development, and the increasing base of the elderly population and strained healthcare resources are affecting the quality of life of the elderly (21). Research on life satisfaction among older adults is increasing, and influences such as age (22), gender (23), psychological condition (24), economic status (25), health-related behaviors (26), and child care (27) are often included as key influences in studies, depending on the topic of study. Relevant studies have also demonstrated the relevance of the above influences on the self-assessment of life satisfaction in older adults.…”

“…Notably, gender differences were observed, with older women exhibiting higher levels of selfassessment of life satisfaction than older men. Discrepancies exist in current research on gender-based differences in the selfassessment of life satisfaction among older adults (22). However, supporting studies posit that women's proficiency in expressing negative emotions may contribute to higher self-assessment levels in older women than men (41,42).…”