Elders In India Commute Up To 45 Km To Avail In-Patient Care

New Delhi: Older adults in India could be commuting up to 15 kilometres to avail out-patient services, and almost 45 kilometres for in-patient care requiring hospitalisation, according to a research.

Estimates published in The Lancet Regional Health-Southeast Asia journal also showed a significant urban-rural disparity -- urban older adults availed out-patient facilities within 10 kilometres of reach, while the distance was nearly 30 kilometres for their rural counterparts.

Researchers from the World Health Organisation, the Ministry of Health and Family Welfare and the Indian Council for Medical Research, analysed data of nearly 32,000 older adults, aged 60 and above, collected during the first wave of the Longitudinal Ageing Study of India (LASI) in 2017-2018.

Older adults in India are estimated to be about 138 million in number, with the fraction of this cross-section of society increasing from 7.4 per cent in 2001 to a projected 13.2 per cent in 2031. Rates of availing both out-patient and in-patient services were found to be high -- 73 per cent and 40 per cent, respectively -- when a facility was within 10 kilometres of reach.