Gender differences in the association between perceived income sufficiency and self-rated health among older adults: A population-based study in India

Abstract

This study explores whether gender differences in self-rated health can be attributed to socioeconomic status and self-perceived income sufficiency in particular. We used data from the Building a Knowledge Base on Population Ageing in India (BKPAI-2011) and carried out the descriptive and bivariate analysis along with a chi-square test to explore the significance of possible associations between explanatory and outcome variables in the study. Also, sex-stratified multiple logistic regression models were employed to fulfill the study objectives. The results show that a higher percentage of older women (58.4%) reported their health as fair/poor than older men (52%). Older women reported poor self-rated health than older men with similar self-perceived income sufficiency (OR: 2.04; p < .001 vs. OR: 1.56; p < .010). All the health indicators such as suffering from higher number of chronic conditions (AOR: 3.70; p < .001 vs. AOR: 2.73; p < .001) and disability (AOR: 3.79; p < .001 vs. AOR: 3.33; p < .001) increased odds of rating of poor health among older women than men, except having two plus difficulty in activities of daily living (ADL), which was positively associated with reporting poor health among men than women (OR: 4.03; p < .001 vs. OR: 2.36; p < .001). The study highlights the gender differences in self-rating of health associated with subjective income status and other socioeconomic and health-related variables that are important while framing social policies for the Indian graying population.