Aging & Society: Eighth Interdisciplinary Conference

Abstract

Healthy ageing is defined by WHO as the “process of developing and maintaining the functional ability that enables wellbeing in older age.” Yet this concept is still being developed. This paper addresses this aspect by utilizing data from the first wave of WHO SAGE surveys for China and India. This paper assesses the multidimensionality of health in older ages and examines which attributes of older people predict particular (or all) dimensions of health. The paper follows a three-step reflective approach, including exploratory factor analysis (EFA) and confirmatory factor analysis (CFA) to find the best model of healthy ageing for Chinese and Indian older population. Further modelling, using the ordinary least squares regression method, allows us to identify its predictors. The empirical results confirm the multidimensionality of healthy ageing, which hitherto is described by a single theoretical construct. We identify seven dimensions of healthy ageing in China (self-care, interpersonal relationships, mobility, pain, sleep, affect, and vision) and an additional eighth dimension in India (getting out of the home and overall health). Furthermore, age, education, employment, and income are found to be the strongest predictors of healthy ageing in both these two countries. We also identify that physical activity, social participation, and satisfaction with healthcare positively influence healthy ageing, whereas smoking tobacco and drinking alcohol has no influence. Despite great similarities between India and China, important differences include the stronger effect of income and place of living in China and material deprivation in India.