Healthy aging in India: evidence from a panel study

Abstract

PurposeRecent public health policy emphasizes the achievement of healthy aging as average life expectancy increases worldwide. Evidence for healthy aging from low- and middle-income countries (LMIC) is limited. The purpose of this paper is to assess the prospects of healthy aging and its associated factors in the Indian context.Design/methodology/approachThe study was based on a national-level panel survey, the Indian Human Development Survey (IHDS) conducted in 2004-05 and 2011-12. The analytical sample consists of 10,218 elderly individuals who were 60 years old and above at the baseline. Change in health status was assessed based on disability and disease incidence at the follow-up. A generalized estimating equation (GEE) model was performed to assess health status change.FindingsIncreasing age was a risk factor for all dimensions of health outcomes. Elderly from the lowest wealth quintiles were more likely to lose health due to short-term morbidity, whereas the highest wealth quintiles were more likely to lose health due to long-term and multi-morbidity, indicating evidence for the presence of the “disease of affluence”. Social capital, such as living in a joint family acted as a protective factor against health risks.Originality/valueWith the results showing the evidence of the “disease of affluence” and “disease of poverty” in different health outcomes, there should be a health policy focus that copes with undergoing epidemiological transition. It is also important to pay attention to health-protecting factors such as social and familial support to achieve healthy aging.

Risk factors for multimorbidity in adulthood: A systematic review

“…showed that persons aged 60-79 had almost 8 the hazard of developing multimorbidity in comparison with those aged 18-39. Similar results were also reported by others (Chau et al, 2021;Fabbri et al, 2015b;Irshad and Dash, 2022;Li et al, 2021;Moin et al, 2021;Mounce et al, 2018;Ryan et al, 2018;Schäfer et al, 2019;Seo, 2019;Vall Castelló and Tubianosa, 2020). Lu et al (Lu et al, 2021).…”

“…Female sex was found to be associated with an increased risk of developing multimorbidity in 4 studies (Bisquera et al, 2022;Hussin et al, 2019;Moin et al, 2021;Quinones et al, 2016), whereas others (Schäfer et al, 2019;Vall Castelló and Tubianosa, 2020) found female sex was protective. No association between sex and multimorbidity was found by other authors (Chau et al, 2021;Irshad and Dash, 2022;Melis et al, 2014;Mounce et al, 2018;Poole and Steptoe, 2018;van den Akker et al, 2000).…”

“…Income or other proxies of wealth were also evaluated by various authors: some authors (Bisquera et al, 2022;Chau et al, 2021;Ki et al, 2017;Mounce et al, 2018;Schäfer et al, 2019;Seo, 2019) found that higher socio-economic status was protective against the development of multimorbidity. On the contrary, van den Akker (van den Akker et al, 2000) et al andIrshad et al (Irshad andDash, 2022). found that being in the upper socio-economical class increased the risk of accruing chronic conditions.…”

“…Smoking and alcohol were also considered by some authors as potential risk factors. A form of association between these risk factors and incident multimorbidity was highlighted by some authors (Bisquera et al, 2022;Freisling et al, 2020;Han et al, 2021;Hussin et al, 2019;Jackson et al, 2016;Katikireddi et al, 2017;Li et al, 2021;Peterson et al, 2021;Schäfer et al, 2019;Shang et al, 2020aShang et al, , 2020bSingh-Manoux et al, 2018;Vall Castelló and Tubianosa, 2020;Wikström et al, 2015;Xu et al, 2018), whereas others did not found any or even found a protective association (Aminisani et al, 2019;Dhalwani et al, 2016;Irshad and Dash, 2022;Jackson et al, 2015;Melis et al, 2014;Mounce et al, 2018;Poole and Steptoe, 2018;Ryan et al, 2018;Seo, 2019;van den Akker et al, 2000). In particular, the association between small alcohol consumption or without taking into consideration the amount of alcohol consumed was mostly found inconsistent or found to be protective in most studies.…”

“…Of the 20 806 abstracts identified in the search, 275 were selected for full-text reading. Reapplication of the eligibility criteria for full-text review resulted in 68 studies (Almas et al, 2019;Aminisani et al, 2019;Arias-de la Torre et al, 2021;Balogun et al, 2021;Bisquera et al, 2022;Blümel et al, 2020;Calderón-Larrañaga et al, 2019Chau et al, 2021;Demirchyan et al, 2013;Dhalwani et al, 2016;Dibato et al, 2021;Fabbri et al, 2015aFabbri et al, , 2015bFabbri et al, , 2015cFreisling et al, 2020;Gondek et al, 2021;Han et al, 2021;Henchoz et al, 2019;Hlaing-Hlaing et al, 2021;Humphreys et al, 2018;Hussin et al, 2019;Irshad and Dash, 2022;Jackson et al, 2015Jackson et al, , 2016Katikireddi et al, 2017;Khanolkar et al, 2021;Ki et al, 2017;Kivimäki et al, 2017;Li et al, 2021Lin et al, 2021;Liu et al, 2022;Lu et al, 2021;Melis et al, 2014;Moin et al, 2021;Mounce et al, 2018;Pérez et al, 2020;Petermann-Rocha et al, 2021;Peterson et al, 2021;Poole and Steptoe, 2018;Qiao et al, 2021…”