Gender Differences in Age at Onset of Non-Communicable Diseases among Older Adults in India: Role of Differential Exposure and Differential Vulnerabilities

Jhumki kundu, Interernational Institute For Population Sciences,Mumbai

This study addresses two critical research questions: (1) Does the onset of NCDs differ between genders? if yes, then (2) What factors contribute to it? using two theoretical hypotheses: “differential exposure” and “differential vulnerability”. For the empirical analysis, we used the data from the Longitudinal Aging Study in India Wave 1 (2017-18). The study employs bivariate, Kaplan-Meier survival analysis, Cox proportional hazards model, and multivariate decomposition to estimate the relative contribution of key exposure and adaptive capacity variables to the gender gap in the onset of NCDs. Results indicate that women have a higher risk of early onset of NCDs, with a mean age at onset of 51.8 years than 53.2 years for men. This difference was highest in cancer and arthritis but insignificant in neurological disorders and diabetes. The relative risk of early onset of any NCDs than the median age at onset was 2.4 times (HR 2.36; 95% 2.26,2.47) higher among women than men, even after adjusting for differential exposure and adaptive capacity variables. Differential exposure in terms of work status and marital status and differences in adaptive capacities like age by gender contribute maximum in explaining the higher relative risk of early onset of NCDs among women.

Keywords: Gender Dynamics, Health and Morbidity, Population Ageing, Longitudinal studies

See paper.