DOES IMPACT OF SOCIO-ECONOMIC STATUS ON HEALTH STATUS CONVERGE OR DIVERGE WITH LIFE-COURSE: AN INVESTIGATION OF CHINESE OLDER ADULTS

Background The China’s demographic change is taking place at an unprecedented rate with increase in size and share of older adults (45+ ages). Nonetheless, researchers are increasingly asking whether the association that... [ view full abstract ]

Background

The China’s demographic change is taking place at an unprecedented rate with increase in size and share of older adults (45+ ages). Nonetheless, researchers are increasingly asking whether the association that have implication for health can be generalized to older population. In this context, the present study examines whether the impact of socio-economic status on health status converge or diverge with life course among Chinese older adults.

Data and Methods

The WHO's Study on Global Ageing and Adult Health (SAGE) dataset of China wave 1 (2007-10) is used for this study. Bivariate analysis has been used to understand the differentials in health status viz. Activities of Daily Livings (ADLs), Instrumental Activities of Daily Livings (IADLs) and Self-Rated Health by socio-economic and demographic covariates. Multivariate analysis includes binary logistic regression and multinomial logistic regression.

Results

Result shows that 14% of the older adults in China have difficulty in performing ADLs, while 43% have difficulty in IADLs and one-fifth have reported poor health status. More than two-fifth have chronic diseases. Multivariate results exert that impact of SES (both education and income) on difficulty in performing ADLs and poor health status diverges with life-course whereas it converges in case of IADLs. The association of SES and chronic diseases is not significant.

Conclusion

The current scenario of divergence in health across each stair of life is accumulated over the life cycle which indicates that inequalities in health will be more pronounced in the future Chinese aging population. Thus findings of this study suggests the importance of social intervention to reduce the gap in education and income level in early life to prevent further divergence in health over the life course.


Key Words: Socio-economic Status (SES); Health Status; Converge; Diverge; Chinese Older Adults; Life-Course