Education and non-communicable diseases in India: an exploration of gendered heterogeneous relationships.

Background: While the association between education and non-communicable diseases (NCDs) is well established, it remains unclear whether this association varies by gender. The aim of this study was to examine two critical research questions: whether the association of education and NCDs is conditioned by gender and, if so, what are the factors contributing to this?

Methods: Data from the Longitudinal Aging Study in India Wave 1 (2017-2018) was used for the empirical analysis. The study employs bivariate, binary logistic regression and Oaxaca decomposition analyses.

Results: The results reveal that the net likelihood of having at least one chronic NCD increases with an increase in education level for men (<5 y of schooling: odds ratio [OR] 1.18 [95% confidence interval {CI} 1.09 to 1.28]; ≥10 y of schooling: OR 1.43 [95% CI 1.33 to 1.53]). However, for women, the result showed a contrasting pattern. The decomposition analysis revealed that the distinctive roles of marital status and working status in the diagnosis of morbidity for men and women are the key factors behind the gendered heterogeneous relationship of education and NCDs in India.

Conclusions: The study found that it is important to acknowledge the potential impact of self-reporting bias in morbidity data while examining the relationship between education and NCDs.