Abstract
This study examined relationships between and predictors of objective and subjective health measures among 766 individuals aged ≥ 45 years in India using the 2010 pilot wave of the Longitudinal Aging Study in India (LASI). Correlations between and gender differences in objective [grip strength, lung function] and subjective [self-rated health (SRH), dependence in activities of daily living (dADL)] health measures were examined. Multivariate logistic regression analyses, accounting for sample design, were conducted to identify predictors of poor health. Fewer individuals were classified as at risk according to subjective (SRH, 9 %; dADL, 12 %) than objective (lung function, 57 %; grip strength, 77 % women, 87 % men) indicators. Poor SRH was only weakly correlated with dADL (r = 0.103, p ≤ 0.05) and grip strength (r = −0.138, p ≤ 0.001). From this study we conclude that older Indians tend to report more positive perception of health than the objective measures of health indicates, and that subjective and objective health indicators capture different aspects of health and only weakly correlated.
Highlights
The global demographic transition that we are witnessing is caused by simultaneous trends of declining fertility rates coupled with longer life expectancies
Efficient public health decisions require a thorough understanding of these developments, and the examination of health outcomes in ageing populations is one way of fostering this understanding
Within the bounds of the individual survey, grip strength, lung function, and other biomarker data were collected from a smaller sample of 928 consenting eligible individuals (Chien et al 2013a, b, 2014)
Summary
The global demographic transition that we are witnessing is caused by simultaneous trends of declining fertility rates coupled with longer life expectancies. India’s elderly population has grown in relative and absolute terms (Bhat and Dhruvarajan 2001; Prakash 1999), and the United Nations Population Division projects that India’s population ages 50 and older will reach 34 % by 2050 (UN 2001) This demographic transition has important social, economic, and public health implications; one example is increased dependency ratios (Bhat and Dhruvarajan 2001; Chan 2005; Fikree and Pasha 2004). Efficient public health decisions require a thorough understanding of these developments, and the examination of health outcomes in ageing populations is one way of fostering this understanding Against this background, this study aims to add to the literature examining the usefulness of different health indicators, with particular regard to self-rated and objective health measures.
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