Research Journal of Humanities and Social Sciences

  • Year: 2019
  • Volume: 10
  • Issue: 2

Self-rated Health in the Elderly: A Comparative Study of Seven States of India

1Statistician, Indian Council of Medical Research (NIRRH), Mumbai, Maharashtra, India

2Research Fellow, International Institute for Population Sciences, Mumbai, Maharashtra, India, akifmustafa13@gmail.com

3Research Fellow, International Institute for Population Sciences, Mumbai, Maharashtra, India, biswas.belief@gmail.com

Abstract

Health status in the elderly can be appropriately assessed through self-rated health because it includes a combination of physical, emotional, and cognitive components as well as characters related to wellbeing and satisfaction with one's own life.

To know the prevalence and determinants of selfreported health status in the elderly across seven states of India.

The present study based on ‘Building a Knowledge Base on Population Ageing in India (BKPAI)’ reports of seven states since the survey comprised only seven major states of India based on speedier ageing and relatively higher proportions of the elderly in the population. Published reports were obtained from appropriate sources. The present study made a comparative study of determinants of self-reported health (SRH) status of selected seven states of India. The self-rated health status contains three options: Excellent/Very good, Good, and Fair/Poor respectively (as reported in the report).

The performance of Himachal Pradesh and Tamil Nadu is awe-inspiring. In Himachal Pradesh, around 27 per cent of respondents reported their health as excellent which is highest among all the seven states. In Tamil Nadu, around 44 per cent of respondents rated their health as ‘Good’ which is the highest among all the seven states. The performance of Punjab and West Bengal is worst among the seven states. Age, sex, marital status and wealth have been found as the important determinants of self-rated health status of elderly.

Keywords

Health of the Elderly, Self-Assessment, Seven States, India