健康老化研究
オープンアクセス

概要

Decomposing socio-economic inequality for routine medical check-ups among older adults: an evidence from cross-sectional survey in India

Shobhit Srivastava1, Shekhar Chauhan2, Ratna Patel3, Pradeep Kumar1*, Samriddhi S. Gupte1, Dhananjay W. Bansod3

The study examined the prevalence and factors associated with medical check-ups among older adults in India by using cross-sectional data from building a knowledge base on population aging in India. Multivariate analysis has been implemented to fulfil the objectives of the study. Concentration index and decomposition analysis were carried out to examine observed socio-economic inequality in routine medical check-ups. Results show that one-fourth of the older adults were undergoing routine medical check-up. Older adults’ education has significant positive association with routine medical check-ups. Concentration index value of 0.19 depicts the pro-rich inequality in health check-ups among older adults. Furthermore, the results from the decomposition analysis revealed that the wealth quintile of the household contributed nearly 57 percent to the observed socio-economic inequality in the prevalence of routine medical check-ups. Education and working status of older adults made a substantial contribution to the inequalities in routine medical check-ups and explained 16.9 percent, and 4.2 percent of the total inequality, respectively. There is a dire need to spread awareness about the usefulness of routine medical check-ups among older adults. A low level of medical check-ups among older adults in rural areas could be reduced by offering free health check-ups regularly.Abbreviations: BKPAI: Building a Knowledge base on Population Aging in India; WHO: World Health Organization; ISEC: Institute for Social and Economic Change; TISS: Tata Institute for Social Sciences; IGE: Institute for Economic Growth; PSU: Primary Sampling Unit; CI: Concentration Index; SES: Socio-Economic Status; OR: Odds Ratio