title: The Health of India's Elderly Population: A Comparative Assessment Using Subjective and Objective Health Outcomes.
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.
authors.affiliation: Department of Health Policy & Management (iBMG), Erasmus University Rotterdam, Oudlaan 50, 3062 PA Rotterdam, The Netherlands.
authors.forename: Jane Murray
authors.initials: JM
authors.lastname: Cramm
authors.affiliation: Department of Health Policy & Management (iBMG), Erasmus University Rotterdam, Oudlaan 50, 3062 PA Rotterdam, The Netherlands.
authors.forename: Lisa
authors.initials: L
authors.lastname: Bornscheuer
authors.affiliation: Department of Health Policy & Management (iBMG), Erasmus University Rotterdam, Oudlaan 50, 3062 PA Rotterdam, The Netherlands.
authors.forename: Anna
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Selivanova
authors.affiliation: Center for Economic & Social Research, University of Southern California, 635 Downey Way, Suite 312, Los Angeles, CA 90089-3332 USA.
authors.forename: Jinkook
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Lee
keywords: Activities of daily living; Elderly; Grip strength; India; Lung function; Self-rated health