Search

Introduction: Recent studies highlight the negative impact of social isolation and involvement in leisure activities on enhanced well‐being of individuals. However, there is dearth of evidence on relationship between social isolation and leisure activities on cognitive abilities and depression of older adults in the Indian context. The paper reports the impact of social isolation and leisure activities on cognitive functioning and depression of older adults. Methods: Data were collected from the Longitudinal Ageing Study of India (LASI), and 63,806 participants aged 45 years or above were considered for the study with adherence to the exclusion criteria. Multivariate analysis was carried out to analyse the group‐based differences. Results: Social isolation (F = 102.09, p < 0.01; η2 = 0.09) and leisure (F = 224.54, p < 0.01; η2 = 0.07) had a statistically significant impact on the cognition and depressive symptoms of participants. Socially isolated older adults with little involvement in leisure activities had the worst cognitive functioning (M = 32.76, SD = 4.41), whereas middle‐aged adults who were actively involved in leisure activities and experienced the least social isolation exhibited the best cognitive functioning (M = 32.76, SD = 4.41). However, leisure and age as independent factors did not have a significant impact on depression. Conclusion: Socially isolated participants, irrespective of age, and involvement in leisure activities exhibit poor cognitive functioning and are more likely to suffer from depression as compared to their counterparts. The findings of the study can be used to design intervention strategies aimed at reducing social isolation by incorporating leisure activities to ensure the optimal functioning of middle‐aged and older adults. Key points: Socially isolated older adults with least involvement in leisure activities reported the worst cognitive functioning.Socially isolated participants reported a positive association with depressive symptomatology.Both middle‐aged and older adults who engaged in leisure activities reported better cognitive functioning as compared to their counterparts who did not engage in any form of leisure activities.Leisure as an independent factor is not significantly associated with depressive symptoms. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Objectives: Diabetes is a significant public health concern in India, with Kerala being labeled as the diabetes capital of the country. The study aims to evaluate the prevalence, treatment, and management of diabetes to examine the unmet need for care to propose cost-effective strategies. Design: A cross-sectional study was conducted on a geographically defined cohort population in Ernakulam. Sample: This paper presents diabetes data of adults ≥30 years enrolled from the community cohort. The interviews were conducted with 997 participants at their residence. Measurement: Random blood glucose was assessed for each participant using a finger prick test. Results: The overall prevalence of diabetes was 30.1%, of which 4.1% of participants had undiagnosed diabetes. Among those with diabetes, 86.3% were aware of their diagnosis; among those aware, 86.5% were on treatment. Among those on treatment for diabetes, 54% achieved controlled blood sugar. Conclusion: The challenge in diabetes management is controlling the blood glucose levels of people who adhere to treatment. Younger employed females from lower-income quartiles have the highest risk. The study also raises questions about quality and strategies for medication compliance. The findings inspire future research on care needs, policies, and program responses to reduce the diabetes disease burden. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Highlights • Elderly being married, acquiring resources and, practicing higher social action enjoy higher degree of social capital. • Elderly with higher degree of social capital are seen to experience better quality of life and healthy aging. • Social capital is signifcanly associated to lowering functional limitation, depression among eldelry. • High access to psychological resources regarding controlling important things in life put profound impact on the quality of life. • Emerging need to highlight the component of social capital in framing policy for elderly in India. Abstract Background Lacuna in contemporary Indian academic research highlights the need to investigate the component of social capital and health outcome among elderly individuals in Indian context. Study endeavors to investigate prevalence of health indicators: self-rated good health(SRH), functional limitation, depression and quality of life(QoL) and the illustrative effects of social capital on elderly health outcome and QoL. Methods Nationally representative cross-sectional data from WHO Study on global AGEing and adults health (SAGE) India 2007 is used. Individuals aged 50+ are included where logistic regression is used to estimate the effect of social capital along with other co-founders on SRH, functional limitation, and depression. Linear regression model is used to analyse evaluates the impact of social capital with other co-founders on QoL among elderly. Results The multivariate analysis shows that SRH is associated with age, female, those having education, higher social-action with strong trust, safety and higher psychological resources. Depression among elderly is significantly related to age, gender, education level, higher wealth, strong sociability. QoL is inversaly related to age, gender, being muslim. A positive association of QoL is observed with higher education, having wealth, and strong social capital component like currently married, civic engagement, social-action, trust solidarity,and strong psychological resources. Conclusion The paper presents evidence that social capital significantly associated with SRH, lower depression, better functional health and higher quality of life. Hench forth policy makers should construct social policy where elderly feel safe and trusty surrounding, that can involved them into main stream as a productive resource of society. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Objectives: This paper investigates severe partner perpetrated burn (SPPB) in India and associated social correlates.Methods: Data are from the National Family Health Survey (NFHS-3), a cross-sectional nationally representative household-based survey. Age, wealth index, education, urban/rural status, region, in-law violence, parental abuse, father abuse of mother, presence of a son, and age at marriage were examined for relationships with SPPB. Models with two reference groups were created (women without intimate partner violence; women with other non-burn intimate partner violence). Logistic regression analyses were computed.Results: Prevalence of SPPB was 1.00% (n=429). When compared to women with no intimate partner violence (IPV), greater wealth and rural status were protective of SPPB, but having a father who abused the participant's mother increased odds of SPPB over three times. When compared to women who had experienced IPV, presence of a son was protective of SPPB, as was not living in the South. Similarities between models included increased odds of SPPB associated with in-law violence and younger age at marriage.Conclusions: SPPB was associated with measures that impacted odds of its occurrence. Prevention efforts should consider these and other cultural factors. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Background: During the last century, Kerala witnessed drastic mortality reduction and high improvement in longevity. This achievement is often compared with that of developed countries. However, how far the early advantages in mortality reduction have further enhanced in Kerala remains unknown. In most developed countries, advanced stage of mortality reduction and further increase in longevity was achieved mainly due to the mortality shift from adult and older ages to oldest ages (Olshansky and Ault 1986). Objectives: Considering the lack of comprehensive study on the change in longevity in Kerala, this study focuses on discovering (i) the historical time-periods that provided the biggest gain to life expectancy and also the beneficiaries (by age group and sex) and (ii) the contributions of major groups of causes of death in mortality reduction and consequent improvement in longevity. Methodology and data: The study uses the methodology proposed by Olshansky and Ault in 1986. It used methods such as Temporary Life Expectancy (TLE), Annual Relative Change in TLE, Decomposition of changes in longevity among different age groups (gender and spatial) and causes of deaths, for the analysis. It used data from various sources such as Census, Civil Registration System (CRS) and Directorate of Health Services (DHS), as well as survey data from Sample Registration System (SRS) and Medically Certified Causes of Deaths (MCCD) for this study. Finding and conclusion: The study found that overall mortality dramatically declined in the state in the recent decades. Younger ages have contributed the most for this reduction. Therefore, further mortality reduction is possible in adult and early old ages. However, the contribution of these ages to life expectancy was lower than that of youngsters until 1991-2000 especially among males. This may indicate a slow progress towards the advanced stage of epidemiological transition characterized by high prevalence of non-communicable diseases. The paper concludes that although the health issues of infants, children, and mothers in the reproductive age group, are effectively addressed through various policies in Kerala, the state needs to focus more on the health problems of adults, especially males. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Background: Evidence of hysterectomy in India is limited mainly due to lack of information in large-scale nationally representative health surveys. In 2015–16, the fourth National Family Health Survey (NFHS-4) – a cross-sectional survey – collected for the first time direct information on hysterectomy and self-reported reasons for undergoing the procedure among women in the reproductive age group. This paper examines the prevalence and determinants of hysterectomy in India among women aged 30–49 years in 29 states and seven union territories (UTs) of India using the NFHS-4 dataset. Methods: Percentage weighted by sampling weights was used for estimating the prevalence of hysterectomy. The paper used crosstabulations and percentage distributions to estimate the prevalence of hysterectomy across different socioeconomic backgrounds and reasons for undergoing hysterectomy respectively. A multivariate binary logistic regression model was also used to find statistically significant determinants of hysterectomy. Results: In India as a whole, 6 % of women aged 30–49 years had undergone a hysterectomy. The percentage of women who had undergone the procedure was found to vary considerably across the states and the UTs (from a minimum of 2% in Lakshadweep to a maximum of 16% in Andhra Pradesh). A noticeable fact that emerged was that the majority of the hysterectomies were performed in the private sector except in the northeast region. Years of schooling, caste, religion, geographic region, place of residence, wealth quintiles, age, parity, age at first cohabitation, marital status, and body mass index of women were found to be the sociodemographic determinants statistically associated with hysterectomy in India. The reasons reported frequently for hysterectomy were excessive menstrual bleeding/pain (56%), followed by fibroids/cysts (20%). Conclusion: The percentage and likelihood of undergoing hysterectomy are relatively high among women from older age groups (45–49), those who reside in rural areas, those without schooling, those who are obese, those having high parity, those with a low age at first marriage, and those who reside in the eastern and southern parts of India. The policy implication of these findings is that the reproductive health program managers should ensure regular screening and timely treatment of the problems resulting in hysterectomy. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]