Associations Between Social Deprivation, Cognitive Heath, and Depression among Older Adults in India: Evidence from the Longitudinal Aging Study in India (LASI)
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Abstract
Background
Cognitive health declines with age and is directly linked to biological changes as people age. However, socioeconomic factors play an essential role in the level and change of cognitive health and the onset of depression in older adults. This study attempts to assess the association between social deprivation, cognitive health, and depression among older persons in India.
Data and Methods
The Longitudinal Aging Study in India (LASI) Wave One, collected in India between 2017 and 2018, was used for this study. Several measures, including education, wealth quintile, working status, and living arrangements, were included in the Social Deprivation Index (SDI), constructed using hedonic weights. The hedonic weights were calculated using the standardized coefficients from the ordered probit regression by taking self-rated life satisfaction as the dependent variable. The Centre for Epidemiologic Studies Depression (CES-D) scale was used to assess depressive symptoms. Multiple logistic regressions established the association between poor cognitive health, depressive symptoms and SDI..
Results
The descriptive findings reveal that 31.7% of people with high social deprivation have poor cognitive health compared to only 8.1% of people with lower social deprivation. Furthermore, 60.5% of people with higher social deprivation have depressive symptoms compared to 25.8% of people with lower social deprivation. Adjusted Odds Ratio (AOR) using multiple logistic regression analysis indicated that individuals with high social deprivation are 2.31 times likelier to be in poor cognitive health and 3.58 times more likely to experience depressive symptoms compared to individuals with low social deprivation after adjusting for socio-economic and demographic characteristics.
Conclusion
The findings suggest that high social deprivation is associated with depression and cognitive health decline. Policymakers and planners should devise policies for elderly people to reduce social isolation and include leisure activities in their daily lives. Free health insurance and specialist care for the elderly can relieve the stress of paying for their healthcare at older ages and improve their mental and cognitive health.
期刊介绍:
This journal brings together research that informs the fields of global social work, social development, and social welfare policy and practice. It serves as an outlet for manuscripts and brief reports of interdisciplinary applied research which advance knowledge about global threats to the well-being of individuals, groups, families and communities. This research spans the full range of problems including global poverty, food and housing insecurity, economic development, environmental safety, social determinants of health, maternal and child health, mental health, addiction, disease and illness, gender and income inequality, human rights and social justice, access to health care and social resources, strengthening care and service delivery, trauma, crises, and responses to natural disasters, war, violence, population movements and trafficking, war and refugees, immigration/migration, human trafficking, orphans and vulnerable children. Research that recognizes the significant link between individuals, families and communities and their external environments, as well as the interrelatedness of race, cultural, context and poverty, will be particularly welcome.