Table 3 Percentage of frail older adults by their background characteristics in India, 2017–18
From: Wealth disparity and frailty among community-dwelling older adults in India
Background characteristics | Poor | Non-poor | Difference | p-value |
|---|---|---|---|---|
% | % | % | ||
Individual factors | ||||
 Age | ||||
  Young-old (60–69 years) | 24.6 | 18.8 | 5.8 | 0.001 |
  Old-old (70–79 years) | 41.8 | 34.9 | 6.9 | 0.001 |
  Oldest-old (80+ years) | 58.2 | 50.4 | 7.8 | 0.537 |
 Sex | ||||
  Male | 31.3 | 24.2 | 7.0 | 0.001 |
  Female | 35.1 | 29.5 | 5.6 | 0.001 |
 Education | ||||
  No education/primary not completed | 34.7 | 31.0 | 3.7 | 0.051 |
  Primary completed | 30.8 | 28.3 | 2.5 | 0.210 |
  Secondary completed | 22.2 | 19.7 | 2.5 | 0.002 |
  Higher and above | 18.9 | 19.0 | −0.1 | 0.894 |
 Living arrangements | ||||
  Alone | 42.7 | 32.7 | 10.0 | 0.112 |
  With spouse only | 29.4 | 24.3 | 5.1 | 0.001 |
  With children only | 32.6 | 26.5 | 6.0 | 0.001 |
  Others | 41.9 | 39.5 | 2.4 | 0.878 |
 Marital status | ||||
  Currently married | 28.7 | 22.6 | 6.1 | 0.001 |
  Widowed | 40.7 | 35.3 | 5.3 | 0.002 |
  Others | 33.4 | 23.3 | 10.1 | 0.309 |
 Working status | ||||
  Never worked | 36.5 | 30.4 | 6.2 | 0.001 |
  Currently working | 16.0 | 13.0 | 3.0 | 0.005 |
  Currently not working | 47.6 | 36.2 | 11.4 | 0.001 |
  Retired | 42.6 | 21.5 | 21.1 | 0.001 |
 Social engagement |  |  |  |  |
  No | 42.7 | 39.6 | 3.1 | 0.023 |
  Yes | 32.1 | 26.2 | 5.9 | 0.004 |
Behavioral factors | ||||
 Tobacco consumption | ||||
  No | 34.0 | 27.5 | 6.5 | 0.001 |
  Yes | 32.6 | 25.9 | 6.7 | 0.001 |
 Alcohol consumption | ||||
  No | 34.3 | 27.5 | 6.8 | 0.001 |
  Yes | 28.8 | 23.5 | 5.2 | 0.001 |
Health factors | ||||
 Body mass index | ||||
  Underweight | 42.8 | 38.4 | 4.3 | 0.363 |
  Normal | 33.0 | 28.7 | 4.3 | 0.002 |
  Overweight/obese | 24.5 | 26.2 | −1.7 | 0.033 |
 Self-rated health | ||||
  Good | 25.1 | 20.6 | 4.5 | 0.001 |
  Poor | 40.5 | 34.9 | 5.6 | 0.001 |
 Difficulty in ADL | ||||
  No | 28.1 | 23.4 | 4.7 | 0.001 |
  Yes | 48.9 | 40.4 | 8.5 | 0.001 |
 Difficulty in IADL | ||||
  No | 24.2 | 20.5 | 3.6 | 0.001 |
  Yes | 41.6 | 35.4 | 6.2 | 0.001 |
 Morbidity status | ||||
  0 | 29.7 | 23.3 | 6.4 | 0.001 |
  1 | 35.8 | 26.9 | 8.9 | 0.001 |
  2+ | 41.8 | 31.7 | 10.1 | 0.001 |
 Household factors | ||||
 Religion | ||||
  Hindu | 32.9 | 26.8 | 6.1 | 0.001 |
  Muslim | 36.9 | 30.8 | 6.1 | 0.001 |
  Christian | 33.3 | 25.8 | 7.5 | 0.073 |
  Others | 33.8 | 22.3 | 11.5 | 0.002 |
 Caste | ||||
  Scheduled Caste | 34.6 | 27.1 | 7.5 | 0.001 |
  Scheduled Tribe | 27.9 | 25.4 | 2.6 | 0.017 |
  Other Backward Class | 35.2 | 26.8 | 8.4 | 0.001 |
  Others | 31.0 | 27.3 | 3.7 | 0.001 |
 Place of residence | ||||
  Rural | 33.7 | 27.3 | 6.4 | 0.001 |
  Urban | 30.7 | 26.6 | 4.2 | 0.001 |
 Region | ||||
  North | 27.3 | 26.7 | 0.6 | 0.380 |
  Central | 34.5 | 29.1 | 5.4 | 0.015 |
  East | 35.1 | 32.5 | 2.6 | 0.843 |
  Northeast | 26.6 | 19.9 | 6.6 | 0.012 |
  West | 27.2 | 20.9 | 6.3 | 0.009 |
  South | 37.0 | 27.8 | 9.1 | 0.001 |
Total | 33.4 | 27.0 | 6.4 | 0.001 |