Gender Differentials in Self-Rated Health and Self-Reported Disability among Adults in India

Abstract

BackgroundThe extant literature on gender differentials in health in developed countries suggests that women outlive men at all ages, but women report poorer health than men. It is well established that Indian women live longer than men, but few studies have been conducted to understand the gender dimension in self-rated health and self-reported disability. The present study investigates gender differentials in self-rated health (SRH) and self-reported disability (SRD) among adults in India, using a nationally representative data.MethodsUsing data on 10,736 respondents aged 18 and older in the 2007 WHO Study on Global Ageing and Adult Health in India, prevalence estimates of SRH are calculated separately for men and women by socio-economic and demographic characteristics. The association of SRH with gender is tested using a multinomial logistic regression method. SRD is assessed using 20 activities of daily living (ADL). Further, gender differences in total life expectancy (TLE), disability life expectancy (DLE) and the proportion of life spent with a disability at various adult ages are measured.ResultsThe relative risk of reporting poor health by women was significantly higher than men (relative risk ratio: 1.660; 95% confidence Interval (CI): 1.430–1.927) after adjusting for socio-economic and demographic characteristics. Women reported higher prevalence of severe and extreme disability than men in 14 measures out of a total20 ADL measures. Women aged less than 60 years reported two times more than men in SRD ≥ 5 ADLs. Finally, both DLE and proportion of life spent with a disability were substantially higher for women irrespective of their ages.ConclusionIndian women live longer but report poorer health than men. A substantial gender differential is found in self-reported disability. This makes for an urgent call to health researchers and policy makers for gender-sensitive programs.

Gender Inequality in Out-of-pocket Expenditure on Healthcare Among Persons with Disabilities in India

“…Rural households had spending of 25% of total household expenditure on healthcare expenditure if the disabled person was male while only 17% of total household expenditure was spent on healthcare if disabled person was female. These findings are consistent with the wisdom that the reporting of poor health by women has been found to be significantly higher than men, hence the lower mean OOPE reported in our study (Bora & Saikia, 2015).…”

Gender Inequality in Out-of-pocket Expenditure on Healthcare Among Persons with Disabilities in India

“…Rural households had spending of 25% of total household expenditure on healthcare expenditure if the disabled person was male while only 17% of total household expenditure was spent on healthcare if disabled person was female. These findings are consistent with the wisdom that the reporting of poor health by women has been found to be significantly higher than men, hence the lower mean OOPE reported in our study (Bora & Saikia, 2015).…”

Self-rated health among older adults in India: Gender specific findings from National Sample Survey

“…In support of the sponge hypothesis, our finding revealed that there are substantial gender gaps among older Indian adults with a female disadvantage in both poor SRH current and worse SRH change . Older women are significantly more likely to have poor SRH current and worse SRH change compared to older men and our finding is consistent with the previous studies [ 11 , 13 , 17 , 38 ].…”

Self-rated health and sociodemographic inequalities among Venezuelan adults: a study based on the National Survey of Living Conditions (ENCOVI 2021)

“…A more negative self-rated health in women when compared to men is reported in studies from different countries 5 , 7 , 26 , 27 , 28 , in agreement with the findings of our study. As observed in the adjusted analysis, Venezuelan women have a 35% higher prevalence of fair/poor self-rated health than Venezuelan men.…”

Gender Inequality in Out-of-pocket Expenditure on Healthcare Among Persons with Disabilities in India

“…Rural households had spending of 25% of total household expenditure on healthcare expenditure if the disabled person was male while only 17% of total household expenditure was spent on healthcare if disabled person was female. These findings are consistent with the wisdom that the reporting of poor health by women has been found to be significantly higher than men, hence the lower mean OOPE reported in our study (Bora & Saikia, 2015).…”

Self-rated health among older adults in India: Gender specific findings from National Sample Survey

“…In support of the sponge hypothesis, our finding revealed that there are substantial gender gaps among older Indian adults with a female disadvantage in both poor SRH current and worse SRH change . Older women are significantly more likely to have poor SRH current and worse SRH change compared to older men and our finding is consistent with the previous studies [ 11 , 13 , 17 , 38 ].…”

Self-rated health and sociodemographic inequalities among Venezuelan adults: a study based on the National Survey of Living Conditions (ENCOVI 2021)

“…A more negative self-rated health in women when compared to men is reported in studies from different countries 5 , 7 , 26 , 27 , 28 , in agreement with the findings of our study. As observed in the adjusted analysis, Venezuelan women have a 35% higher prevalence of fair/poor self-rated health than Venezuelan men.…”

Gender Inequality in Out-of-pocket Expenditure on Healthcare Among Persons with Disabilities in India

“…Rural households had spending of 25% of total household expenditure on healthcare expenditure if the disabled person was male while only 17% of total household expenditure was spent on healthcare if disabled person was female. These findings are consistent with the wisdom that the reporting of poor health by women has been found to be significantly higher than men, hence the lower mean OOPE reported in our study (Bora & Saikia, 2015).…”

Self-rated health among older adults in India: Gender specific findings from National Sample Survey

“…In support of the sponge hypothesis, our finding revealed that there are substantial gender gaps among older Indian adults with a female disadvantage in both poor SRH current and worse SRH change . Older women are significantly more likely to have poor SRH current and worse SRH change compared to older men and our finding is consistent with the previous studies [ 11 , 13 , 17 , 38 ].…”

Self-rated health and sociodemographic inequalities among Venezuelan adults: a study based on the National Survey of Living Conditions (ENCOVI 2021)

“…A more negative self-rated health in women when compared to men is reported in studies from different countries 5 , 7 , 26 , 27 , 28 , in agreement with the findings of our study. As observed in the adjusted analysis, Venezuelan women have a 35% higher prevalence of fair/poor self-rated health than Venezuelan men.…”