Multi-Morbidity, Functional Limitations, and Self-Rated Health Among Older Adults in India

This article describes the prevalence of multi-morbidity and itsassociation with self-rated and functional health using Longitudinal Aging Study inIndia (LASI), Pilot survey, 2010 data, on 1,683 older adults aged 45+. The prevalence ofmulti-morbidity is assessed as count of self-reported chronic diseases for an olderadult. Limitations in activities of daily living (ADL) are used as a measure offunctional health. Zero-inflated Poisson regression is estimated to examine thecovariates of multi-morbidity. Moreover, logit models are used to assess the associationof multi-morbidity with functional health and self-rated health. Results depict a largeprevalence of multi-morbidity, limitations in ADL and poor self-rated health withpronounced state variations. Prevalence of multimorbidity was higher at higher level ofeducation, wealth, and caste. However, educational status of older adults is seen to benegatively associated with prevalence of ADL limitations and poor self-rated health.Household wealth and caste showed no clear association with limitations in ADL and poorself-rated health. Multi-morbid older adults were found with substantially high risk ofADL limitations and poor self-rated health