Aging & Social Change: Ninth Interdisciplinary Conference

Abstract

Limited epidemiological studies have examined how health varies across living arrangements among the elderly particularly in developing countries. This study examines the association between living arrangements and prevalence of chronic morbidity (having ≥2 chronic conditions) among elderly in India. This cross-sectional study uses the data of 9,852 persons aged 60 and above from Building Knowledge Base on Aging in India (BKPAI) conducted in 2011. Bivariate and binary logistic regression analyses were employed to investigate the influence of confounding factors on morbidity. Regression models demonstrate that elderly living with children/others are more likely to suffer from chronic morbidity than those elderly who are living alone. Chronic morbidity was highest among 80 years and above age group (77.9 %) than other two age groups of 60-69 (57.6 %) and 70-79 (66.3 %). There is strong association between increased morbidity and living arrangements of the elderly. The high prevalence of morbidity observed among the elderly living with children/others suggests that programmes and policies should also be oriented towards living arrangements of elderly while framing the public health support system in India.