Abstract
BackgroundThere remains a lack of research on co-variation of multiple health outcomes and their socio-economic co-patterning, especially among the elderly. This papers aims to 1) examine the effects of different socio-economic factors on physical functioning and psychological well-being among older adults in a rural community in northern Vietnam; and 2) investigate the extent to which the two outcomes variables co-vary within individuals.MethodsWe analyzed the data from the WHO/INDEPTH study on global ageing and adult health conducted on 8535 people aged 50 years old and over in Bavi district of Vietnam in 2006. A multivariate response model was constructed to answer our research questions. The model treats the individual as a level two unit and the multiple measurements observed within an individual as a level one unit.ResultsLower physical functioning and psychological well-being were found in 1) women; 2) older people; 3) people with lower education level; 4) people who were currently single; 5) respondents from poorer household; and 6) mountainous dwellers compared to that in those of other category(ies) of the same variable. Socioeconomic factors accounted for about 24% and 7% of variation in physical functioning and psychological well-being scores, respectively. The adjusted correlation coefficient (0.35) indicates that physical functioning and psychological well-being did not strongly co-vary.ConclusionsThe present study shows that there exist problems of inequality in health among older adults in the study setting. This finding highlights the importance of analyzing multiple dimensions of health status simultaneously in inequality investigations.
Highlights
There remains a lack of research on co-variation of multiple health outcomes and their socioeconomic co-patterning, especially among the elderly
Characteristics of the study populations Of the total of 8,874 people aged 50 years and over who lived in the study setting at the time of the survey, there were 8,535 who participated in the study (96%). 4% did not respond to the survey because they were away (2.3%) or were not healthy enough to take part in the survey (1.7%)
There were no significant differences in socioeconomic characteristics between the respondents and the non-respondents
Summary
There remains a lack of research on co-variation of multiple health outcomes and their socioeconomic co-patterning, especially among the elderly. This papers aims to 1) examine the effects of different socioeconomic factors on physical functioning and psychological well-being among older adults in a rural community in northern Vietnam; and 2) investigate the extent to which the two outcomes variables co-vary within individuals. Population projections for the coming years show a considerable increase in the proportion of older people worldwide [1,2,3]. To effectively and efficiently respond to the growing health needs of elderly populations, it is critical to have in-depth understandings about their health conditions and related socioeconomic factors
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