Examining chronic disease onset across varying age groups of Indian adults using competing risk analysis

In low-and-middle-income countries, people develop chronic diseases at a younger age, leading to health-and-economic loss. Estimates of the age of onset of chronic disease provide evidence for policy intervention, but in the Indian context, evidence is limited. The present study aims to explore the onset of seven chronic diseases across adults and the elderly, along with the prognostic factors of chronic disease onset. Using Wave 1 data of the Longitudinal Ageing Study in India (LASI), we estimated the statistical distributions, the median age at onset, and Loglogistic and Weibull accelerated failure time model to understand the onset of seven medically diagnosed self-reported chronic diseases across age groups. We also obtained the sub-distribution hazard ratio (SHR) from the Fine-Gray model to determine the risk of contracting selected chronic diseases in a competing risk setup. The seven chronic diseases– hypertension, diabetes, lung disease, heart disease/stroke, arthritis, neurological disease, and cancer– were developing early, especially in individuals aged 45–54 and 55–64. Arthritis risk was higher in rural areas, and physically active adults and elderly were 1.32 times (95% CI 1.12–1.56) more likely to develop heart disease/stroke. The emerging evidence of the early onset of neurological diseases in middle-aged adults (i.e., among the 45–54 age group) reminds us of the need to reinforce a balance between the physical and mental life of individuals. The early onset of chronic diseases in the independent and working-age category (45–54 years) can have many social and economic implications. For instance, it can create a greater healthcare burden when these individuals grow older with these diseases. Further, disease-specific interventions would be helpful in reducing future chronic disease burden.