Seeing the Unseen: Economic Vulnerabilities and Visual Impairment among Older Adults in India

Priya Maurya, French Institute for Demographic Studies (INED)
Rajeev Singh, International Institute for Population Sciences (IIPS)

The relationship between economic wellbeing and visual impairment (VI) is multifaced and influenced by many factors. Social inequalities and discrimination also exacerbate economic insecurities, particularly in those countries where social policies related to disability is lacking. Therefore, addressing these issues in India is one significant aspects of public health concerns. This study aims to examine the relationship between economic wellbeing and visual impairment among older adults in India. The study uses a composite index of the economic well-being of households using the monthly per capita expenditure, monthly per capita income and wealth index. Descriptive statistics, bivariate analysis and multivariate regression was applied to understand the association of severity of VI and different parameters of economic well-being. The study findings indicate that the composite index of economic wellbeing was 53 on scale of 0-100 among individuals with no VI and the same figure for individuals having severe VI or blindness was 46. The multivariate estimates also reveal that economic wellbeing was declining with increasing severity of VI. Economic well-being demonstrates a protective effect; those living comfortably or with higher education levels report significantly better visual outcomes compared to their less affluent counterparts. These findings highlight the critical role of socioeconomic and health factors in shaping the dual challenges of VI and economic well-being among India's ageing population, underscoring the need for integrated policies targeting health, education, and social support systems.

Keywords: Population Ageing, Health and Morbidity, Longitudinal studies , Inequality, Disadvantage and Discrimination

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  Presented in Session 145. Social Inequality in Health among Older Adults