Feminization of disease and disability association in six low and middle income countries: evidence from the Study of Global Ageing and Health

Mohammad Hifzur Rahman, International Institute for Population Sciences (IIPS)

More than three-fourths of the population aged 50 and over suffering from disability in India, China, Ghana, Russia, Mexico, and South Africa. Women represent a growing proportion of all older people, but added survival means increasing disability associated with chronic conditions that impact on daily living. Extant literature is full of studies suggesting sex differential in the prevalence disability. But there are drought of studies discussing sex differential in the association of disease and disability. Data from SAGE for aged more or 50 has been used to test the two hypotheses in the aforementioned countries: first, there is no sex differential in the association of disease and disability; and second, association of disease and disability is uniform in the aforementioned countries. Findings of the study rejected both the hypotheses. Association of disease and disability is fully feminized, moreover, huge differences are found in the prevalence of disability across countries.