Morbidity Profile, Healthcare Utilization and Associated out of Pocket Expenditure on Health among Elderly Population of Lucknow District, Northern India

Abstract Background Population aging poses a demographic burden on a country such as India with inadequate social security systems and very low public investment in health sector. This challenge of accelerated demographic transition is coupled by the rural-urban disparity in access to healthcare services among the elderly people in India. An important objective of India’s National Health Policy (2017) is to “progressively achieve universal health coverage” which is posited upon mitigating the sub-national disparity that necessitates identifying the drivers of the disparity for targeted policy intervention. This study, therefore, makes an attempt towards the exploration of the prominent contributory factors behind the rural-urban gap in utilisation of healthcare among the older population in India. Methods The analysis has been done by using the unit level data of Social Consumption: Health (Schedule number 25.0) of the 75th round of the National sample Survey conducted during July 2017–June 2018. Two binary logistic models have been proposed to capture the crude and the adjusted association between health seeking behaviour and place of residence (rural/ urban). To compute the group differences (between rural and urban) in the rate of healthcare utilization among the elderly population in India and to decompose these differences into the major contributing factors, Fairlie’s decomposition method has been employed. Results The logistic regression models established a strong association between place of residence and likelihood of healthcare utilisation among the Indian elderly people. The results of the Fairlie’s decomposition analysis revealed considerable rural-urban inequality disfavouring the rural residents and health care utilisation was found to be 7 percentage points higher among the older population residing in urban India than their rural counterparts. Level of education and economic status, both of which are indicators of a person’s Socio-Economic Status, were the two major determinants of the existing rural-urban differential in healthcare utilisation, together explaining 41% of the existing rural-urban differential. Conclusion Public health care provisions need to be strengthened both in terms of quality and outreach by way of greater public investments in the health sector and by building advanced health infrastructure in the rural areas. Implementation of poverty alleviation programmes and ensuring social-security of the elderly are also indispensable in bringing about equity in healthcare utilisation.

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Pattern and Extent of Utilization of Social Welfare Schemes by the Elderly in Northern India: An Observational Study

Asian Journal of Social Science Studies ◽

10.20849/ajsss.v5i3.789 ◽

2020 ◽

Vol 5 (3) ◽

pp. 29

Author(s):

Jasjit Kaur Sidhu ◽

Kirtan Rana ◽

Poonam Khanna ◽

Tarundeep Singh

Keyword(s):

Observational Study ◽

Social Welfare ◽

Elderly Population ◽

Central Government ◽

The Elderly ◽

Healthcare Services ◽

Northern India ◽

Social Welfare Services ◽

Rural And Urban ◽

Significant Difference

Background: With the increase in the elderly population in India, state and central government have initiated many schemes for the welfare of the elderly. The current study ascertained the pattern and extent of utilization of social welfare services by the elderly in the rural area of Punjab, a north Indian state.Results: Out of 400 participants, most (72%) of the respondents were females. About 99.5% had an awareness about and 91% were utilizing at least one social welfare scheme. A statistically significant difference was found between the utilization of schemes for availing healthcare services and medicines (p=0.001) and fulfilling basic needs (p=0.01) among rural and urban participants. A significant difference was seen in the number of schemes utilized with economic dependence, source of income, and social class (p<0.05). Lack of knowledge for a scheme was the most common reason for the non-utilization of schemes.Conclusion: The study concluded that the utilization of social welfare schemes can be increased by making them elderly-friendly.

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Outcome and its predictors in traumatic brain injury in elderly population: Institutional study from Northern India

Journal of Family Medicine and Primary Care ◽

10.4103/jfmpc.jfmpc_1559_20 ◽

2021 ◽

Vol 10 (1) ◽

pp. 289

Author(s):

Hanish Bansal ◽

Saurabh Sharma ◽

Jagminder Singh ◽

Ashwani Chaudhary

Keyword(s):

Traumatic Brain Injury ◽

Brain Injury ◽

Elderly Population ◽

Northern India

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Development of a cognitive screening instrument for tribal elderly population of Himalayan region in northern India

Journal of Neurosciences in Rural Practice ◽

10.4103/0976-3147.112744 ◽

2013 ◽

Vol 04 (02) ◽

pp. 147-153 ◽

Cited By ~ 3

Author(s):

Sunil Kumar Raina ◽

Sujeet Raina ◽

Vishav Chander ◽

Ashoo Grover ◽

Sukhjit Singh ◽

...

Keyword(s):

Elderly Population ◽

Indian Population ◽

Screening Instrument ◽

Cognitive Tests ◽

Cognitive Screening ◽

English Version ◽

Cognitive Domains ◽

Northern India ◽

Made In ◽

Culture And Language

ABSTRACT Introduction: Cognitive impairment, characteristic of dementia, is measured objectively by standard neuropsychological (cognitive) tests. Given the diversity of culture and language in India, it is difficult to use a single modified version of MMSE uniformly to Indian population. In this article, we report methods on the development of a cognitive screening instrument suitable for the tribal (Bharmour) elderly (60 years and above) population of Himachal Pradesh, India. Materials and Methods: We used a systematic, item‑by‑item, process for development of a modified version of MMSE suitable for elderly tribal population. Results: The modifications made in the English version of MMSE and the pretesting and pilot testing thereof resulted in the development of Bharmouri version of cognitive scale. Discussion: The study shows that effective modifications can be made to existing tests that require reading and writing; and that culturally sensitive modifications can be made to render the test meaningful and relevant, while still tapping the appropriate cognitive domains.

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Validity and Reliability of the Informant Questionnaire on Cognitive Decline in the Elderly (IQCODE)

GeroPsych ◽

10.1024/1662-9647/a000209 ◽

2019 ◽

Vol 32 (3) ◽

pp. 145-151

Author(s):

Mahshid Foroughan ◽

Zahra Jafari ◽

Ida Ghaemmagham Farahani ◽

Vahid Rashedi

Keyword(s):

Psychometric Properties ◽

Elderly Population ◽

Formal Education ◽

The Elderly ◽

Cognitive State ◽

Validity And Reliability ◽

Internal Reliability ◽

Dsm Iv ◽

Test Retest Reliability ◽

Farsi Version

Abstract. This study examines the psychometric properties of the IQCODE and its applicability in the Iranian elderly population. A group of 95 elderly patients with at least 4 years of formal education who fulfilled the criteria of DSM-IV-TR for dementia were examined by the MMSE and the AMTs. The Farsi version of the IQCODE was subsequently administered to their primary caregivers. Results showed a significant correlation ( p = .01) between the score of the questionnaire and the results of the MMSE ( r = −0.647) and AMTs ( r = −0.641). A high internal reliability of the questionnaire was confirmed by Cronbach’s alpha coefficient (α = 0.927) and test-retest reliability by correlation coefficient ( r = 0.81). This study found that the IQCODE has acceptable psychometric properties and can be used for evaluating the cognitive state in the elderly population of Iran.

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