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Determinants of rural-urban differential in prevalence of undiagnosed and untreated hypertension among the older population (aged 45 years and above) in India

Shreya Banerjee, Jawaharlal Nehru University

Several studies have found a higher case-fatality ratio among COVID-19 patients with co-morbidities such as hypertensive conditions. However, persons with undiagnosed/ untreated hypertension, understandably, face the dual heightened risk of mortality due to (a) developing severe complications if infected with COVID-19; and/ or (b) cardio-vascular diseases, even when unaffected by COVID-19. On the flip-side, lock-downs, imposed as a measure to contain the raging pandemic, and temporary shutting of out-patient departments in several public hospitals in cities may have further inhibited non-COVID-19 related healthcare utilisation, particularly among rural residents who largely depend on the services of urban tertiary hospitals for treatment of chronic diseases. In an effort to estimate the gravity of this problem, and to identify the most vulnerable groups, this study, aims to decompose the rural-urban differential in prevalence of undiagnosed and untreated hypertension among the older adults (aged 45 years and above) in India. The analysis would be done using the wave-1 data of Longitudinal Ageing Survey of India (2017-18). Logistic regression models are proposed to capture the association between prevalence of undiagnosed and untreated hypertension and place of residence. The inter-group differences (between rural and urban) in the prevalence of undiagnosed and untreated hypertension will be decomposed into the major contributing factors, by employing Fairlie’s decomposition method.

Keywords: COVID-19, Health and morbidity, Inequality, Older adults

See extended abstract.

  Presented in Session P6.