**3. Results**

The prevalence of all self-reported communicable and non-communicable morbidities has increased from 2004 to 2014 in India. The prevalence of communicable diseases increased by 10 points and non-communicable diseases by more than 20 points. The prevalence of all diseases was higher for females than males (**Figure 2**). The prevalence of disability was the same for males and females (4%). The maximum difference in the prevalence rate was observed for the category of non-communicable disease (33% in males and 51% in females) (**Figure 2**).

The study examines the prevalence rate of self-reported morbidities by age and sex in India for the year 2014. Females are at higher risk of suffering from disease. Risk of suffering from non-communicable diseases and other diseases increased with increasing age and reduced steadily for the communicable disease. The infant in the age group of 0–1 year suffered the largest burden of communicable diseases (overall 108 per 1000; male, 121 per 1000; female, 93 per 1000). Non-communicable disease prevalence was highest in the age group 70 and above (overall 274 per 1000 population; male 281 and female 267). Similarly, other disease prevalence remains higher for elderly age 70 years old and above. Male–female gap

**Figure 2.** *Prevalence of different self-reported morbidities in India by Gender (2014).*

### *Age- and Sex-Specific Burden of Morbidity and Disability in India: A Current Scenario DOI: http://dx.doi.org/10.5772/intechopen.89709*

in the communicable disease prevalence was the highest for the infant age group. Females overpass the male prevalence of communicable disease from the age group 15–19 years and remain on the higher side except the oldest age group (65 and above). The prevalence of non-communicable diseases was higher for females than males in all the age group except the 70+ and less than 10 years. Similar pattern by sex was observed for the other diseases and disability status (**Figure 3**).

**Table 1** shows the results of logistic regression analysis by age after controlling the effect of other socio-economic factors. It is evident from the results that the odds of suffering from communicable diseases were maximum in the reference age group. The odds reduced significantly in the adult ages and increased steadily afterwards in the elderly age groups. This age pattern does not change significantly by sex. The lowest odds were observed in the age group of 25–30 (OR, 0.19) and 30–35 years old (OR, 0.20). A significant positive association can be seen between risk of suffering from non-communicable disease and age. The risk of suffering from noncommunicable diseases is more than 10 times higher in the age group 40 and above with the highest risk in the age group 70+. The risk of suffering from NCD was 52 times higher for the elderly age 70 and above. Elderly males (70+) have 48 times and

**Figure 3.** *Prevalence of self-reported morbidities by age and sex in India (2014).*

females (70+) 58 times higher odds of suffering from non-communicable diseases. With the increase of age, the likelihood of other diseases also increased significantly. For other diseases, the impact was greatest for the elderly population in the 70-year age group who have three times higher risk than the reference age group. In each age group, the odds of suffering from each type of disease were higher among females than males except a few age groups in the other disease category (**Table 1**).

The result for DALYs from **Table 2** shows that the burden of communicable diseases was highest in the infancy (0–1 years), followed by 1–5 years. The two age groups contribute to 60% of the total DALYs in male children and 56% in females. The result clearly indicates that the burden of infectious diseases was higher during infancy and noticeably greater among males than females. The women in the age group 15–49 contribute to 21% of the total DALYs. The age distributions of the DALY indicated that individuals aged below 5 and above 60 years were more susceptible to infections. The DALYs in each age group are higher for females than males except children aged below 5 years and the elderly aged 70+. Females in the adult age group were more at risk of having infectious diseases than their male counterparts. The age distributions of the non-communicable disease DALYs



*Age- and Sex-Specific Burden of Morbidity and Disability in India: A Current Scenario DOI: http://dx.doi.org/10.5772/intechopen.89709*

**Table 1.**

*Logistic regression analysis with the disease status as a dependent variable.*

(**Table 2**) indicated that individuals aged above 45 years are more susceptible to non-communicable diseases. The largest contribution of the total DALYs in noncommunicable diseases is from the age group 65–70 (males, 14%, and females, 13%). The result also shows that the adult working age male and female population contributes more than half of the total DALYs in non-communicable diseases. The DALYs for non-communicable disease are higher in the male population than females in most of the age groups contrary to the fact that the prevalence of noncommunicable disease has been higher among females.


#### **Table 2.**

*Burden of communicable and non-communicable disease by age and sex for total population in India, 2011.*


#### **Table 3.**

*Burden of disability by age and gender in India, 2011.*

#### *Age- and Sex-Specific Burden of Morbidity and Disability in India: A Current Scenario DOI: http://dx.doi.org/10.5772/intechopen.89709*

The DFLE result (**Table 3**) shows that at birth, males in India are expected to live 58 years of life without disability out of the 66 years of the total life expectancy at birth. Similarly, females are expected to live 62 years of life without disability out of the total 69 years of life expectancy at birth. The age pattern of disability-free life expectancy does not change considerably till the age 70 in India. The elderly population aged 70 years and above are expected to live around two-thirds of their life in disability. Elderly males aged 70 years and above are expected to live 63% and females 66% of their total life with disability.
