Association of Socio-Demographic Discrepancies with Health of The Elderly in Urban Varanasi, India

The epidemiological transition in India has sharp consequences in terms of increasing longevity but subsequently accelerated pace of non-communicable diseases among graying cohorts. Amidst ageing phenomenon it is prerequisite to explore the levels and covariates of medically diagnosed and self reported health problems of elderly. A cross sectional study was carried out on a sample of 400 elderly people aged 60 and above from two different wards of urban Varanasi, India. Preliminary findings highlight age, gender, marital status, education and income as significant covariates as well as differential in self rated health among elderly. Elderly male enjoyed good health (26.9%) than the female elderly (9%). Married elderly respondents more frequently reported good health status (29.9%) than unmarried (6%), whereas elderly respondents with 10 years and above education reported better health status (24.6%) than those in 8 years (12%), 5 years (22.2%) and no education (9.8%).Among several chronic and degenerative diseases, diabetes (29.9%), hypertension (40.5%), arthritis (25.8%), respiratory tract infection (27%), chronic fatigue (69.2%), gastroesophageal reflux (41%) and anxiety (41.5%) frequently affected the health of elderly.