Healthy Ageing in India; A Quantile Regression Approach

Older adults are noted for the high prevalence of health risks, and recent public health policies targets achieving healthy ageing. The present study aims to understand healthy ageing and its determinants among Indian older adults using a nationally representative large sample data- Longitudinal Ageing Study in India (LASI)-wave 1. A Healthy Ageing Index (HAI) ranged between 0 and 100 was constructed based on 28 variables representing multiple dimensions of healthy ageing. Descriptive statistics and quantile regression analysis were performed. The mean HAI was 81.40, which indicates that, on average, the study population is slightly healthier. The multivariate analysis results indicated that there is inequality in healthy ageing based on socioeconomic and demographic differentials. The study also found that better health risk behaviours (no smoking, no drinking of alcohol, and engage in physical activity), food security and social capital had played an important role and acted as a protective factor against unhealthy ageing. At the 10(th), 25(th), 50(th),75(th), and 90(th) percentiles, older adults who engaged in physical activity were significantly more likely to experience healthy ageing compared to older adults without physical activity (beta = 2.44, p < 0.05; beta = 1.90, p < 0.05; beta = 1.23, p < 0.05; beta = 0.73, p < 0.05 and beta = 0.59, p < 0.05, respectively). A high prevalence of frailty was associated with unhealthy ageing. There should be intervention through socioeconomic and behavioural risk factors to moderate the geriatric population to achieve healthy ageing.