Background characteristics of the older population in NSS 1995–1996, NSS 2004 and NSS 2014, India
| Background characteristics | NSS 1995–1996 | NSS 2004 | NSS 2014 | |||
| Predisposing variables | N | % (95% CI) | N | % (95% CI) | N | % (95% CI) |
| Age (years) | ||||||
| 60–69 | 21 124 | 62.5 (61.6 to 63.4) | 22 546 | 65.3 (64.6 to 66.0) | 17 160 | 64.5 (63.2 to 65.8) |
| 70 years or more | 12 866 | 37.5 (36.6 to 38.4) | 12 264 | 34.7 (34.0 to 35.4) | 10 085 | 35.5 (34.2 to 36.8) |
| Sex | ||||||
| Male | 17 173 | 49.4 (48.5 to 50.4) | 17 750 | 50.0 (49.3 to 50.8) | 13 692 | 49.2 (47.8 to 50.6) |
| Female | 16 817 | 50.6 (49.6 to 51.5) | 17 081 | 50.0 (49.2 to 50.7) | 13 553 | 50.8 (49.4 to 52.2) |
| Marital status | ||||||
| Currently married | 20 111 | 58.3 (57.3 to 59.2) | 20 959 | 59.2 (58.5 to 60.0) | 17 947 | 63.4 (62.1 to 64.7) |
| Single | 13 852 | 41.7 (40.8 to 42.7) | 13 872 | 40.8 (40.0 to 41.5) | 9298 | 36.6 (35.3 to 37.9) |
| Caste | ||||||
| Non-SC/STs | 26 089 | 76.4 (75.6 to 77.2) | 26 291 | 76.0 (75.3 to 76.6) | 20 823 | 76.8 (75.6 to 77.9) |
| SC/STs | 7880 | 23.6 (22.8 to 24.4) | 8531 | 24.0 (23.4 to 24.7) | 6422 | 23.2 (22.1 to 24.4) |
| Education | ||||||
| Literate | 12 406 | 29.5 (28.7 to 30.4) | 13 514 | 34.2 (33.5 to 34.9) | 13 362 | 42.6 (41.2 to 43.9) |
| Illiterate | 21 543 | 70.5 (69.6 to 71.3) | 21 301 | 65.8 (65.1 to 66.5) | 13 883 | 57.4 (56.1 to 58.8) |
| Enabling variables | ||||||
| Place of residence | ||||||
| Urban | 13 035 | 21.9 (21.3 to 22.5) | 12 566 | 24.3 (23.7 to 24.9) | 12 226 | 31.2 (30.0 to 32.4) |
| Rural | 20 955 | 78.1 (77.5 to 78.7) | 22 265 | 75.7 (75.1 to 76.3) | 15 019 | 68.8 (67.6 to 70.0) |
| States | ||||||
| More developed | 17 389 | 53.7 (52.8 to 54.7) | 17 019 | 55.2 (54.4 to 55.9) | 14 466 | 56.3 (54.9 to 57.6) |
| Less developed | 16 601 | 46.3 (45.3 to 47.2) | 17 812 | 44.8 (44.1 to 45.6) | 12 779 | 43.7 (42.4 to 45.1) |
| Economic dependency | ||||||
| Economically independent | 10 149 | 31.1 (30.2 to 32.0) | 11 800 | 34.0 (33.3 to 34.7) | 7159 | 28.3 (27.0 to 29.6) |
| Economically dependent | 23 061 | 68.9 (68.0 to 69.8) | 22 429 | 66.0 (65.3 to 66.7) | 20 075 | 71.7 (70.4 to 73.0) |
| Economic status | ||||||
| Non-poor | 15 407 | 35.8 (35.0 to 36.7) | 14 372 | 34.8 (34.1 to 35.5) | 11 738 | 36.1 (34.8 to 37.4) |
| Poor | 18 583 | 64.2 (63.3 to 65.0) | 20 459 | 65.2 (64.5 to 65.9) | 15 507 | 63.9 (62.6 to 65.2) |
| Living arrangement | ||||||
| With family | 32 482 | 95.6 (95.2 to 96.0) | 32 595 | 94.8 (94.4 to 95.1) | 26 659 | 95.9 (95.3 to 96.5) |
| Alone | 1174 | 4.4 (4.0 to 4.8) | 1509 | 5.2 (4.9 to 5.6) | 586 | 4.1 (3.5 to 4.7) |
| Need variables | ||||||
| Physical mobility status | ||||||
| Mobile | 29 697 | 89.5 (88.9 to 90.1) | 30 821 | 91.9 (91.5 to 92.3) | 24 499 | 92.0 (91.3 to 92.7) |
| Immobile | 3635 | 10.5 (9.9 to 11.1) | 3224 | 8.1 (7.7 to 8.5) | 2735 | 8.0 (7.3 to 8.7) |
| Current self-rated health (SRH) | ||||||
| Good | 27 263 | 80.8 (79.9 to 81.5) | 24 965 | 76.4 (75.7 to 77.0) | 20 143 | 77.6 (76.4 to 78.7) |
| Poor | 6217 | 19.2 (18.5 to 20.1) | 8216 | 23.6 (23.0 to 24.3) | 7091 | 22.4 (21.3 to 23.6) |
| SRH compared with previous year | ||||||
| Better or same | 25 018 | 74.3 (73.4 to 75.1) | 25 971 | 79.3 (78.7 to 79.9) | 19 590 | 75.0 (73.8 to 76.2) |
| Worse | 8430 | 25.7 (24.9 to 26.6) | 7210 | 20.7 (20.1 to 21.3) | 7644 | 25.0 (23.8 to 26.2) |
| N | 33 990 | 34 831 | 27 245 | |||
NSS, National Sample Survey; SC/STs, Scheduled castes/scheduled tribes.