Whether the Relative Poverty of Women in Childhood and Adult Ages Affect their Disease/Disability Burden in Later Years?

This paper attempts a comparative analysis between disease and disability burden of elderly men and women in the context of relative deprivations of women in nutrition, health care, education etc. in childhood and adult ages, taking India as a case.

The data are culled out from Indian censuses and large scale surveys carried out during last three decades. The study variables are identified through a correlation analysis depicting linkage between disease and disability burden in old age and access to necessities of life in childhood and adult ages.

A time series analysis of prevalence of chronic diseases among elderly men and women at two points of time indicates that gender specific difference in the prevalence of chronic diseases in old age was quite minimal.

A multiple regression analysis between disease and disability burden of men and women and variables depicting deprivation to quality of life in childhood and adult ages did not show any significant effect of deprivation in childhood and adult ages on health status of women in old ages. Not only women are living longer, their health status is also at par with men.