An Investigation to Identify Potential Risk Factors Associated with Common Chronic Diseases Among the Older Population in India

BACKGROUND: In India, chronic diseases are the leading cause of death and their prevalence has constantly increased over the last decade. OBJECTIVE: This study aimed to identify risk factors associated with common chronic diseases among people aged 50 years and over in India. MATERIALS AND METHODS: Data from Wave 1 of the 2007/2008 Indian Study on Global Ageing and Adult Health (SAGE) was used to investigate the association between lifestyle choices and chronic diseases using logistic regression. RESULT: The fully adjusted model showed that significant independent risk factors for angina included area of residence, being diagnosed with diabetes, chronic lung disease (CLD) [highest odds ratio (OR) 4.77, 95% confidence interval (CI): 2.95-7.70] and arthritis. For arthritis, risk factors included having underlying diabetes, CLD diagnosis, or angina (highest OR 2.32, 95% CI: 1.63-3.31). Risk factors associated with CLD included arthritis, angina (highest OR 4.76, 95% CI: 2.94-7.72), alcohol use, and tobacco use. Risk factors associated with diabetes included level of education, area of residence, socioeconomic status, angina (highest OR 3.59, 95% CI: 2.44-5.29), CLD, arthritis, stroke, and vegetable consumption. Finally, risk factors associated with stroke included diabetes and angina (highest OR 3.34, 95% CI: 1.72-6.50). The presence of any other comorbidity was significantly associated with all five chronic diseases studied. CONCLUSION: The results show that within the older population, the contribution of lifestyle risk factors to the common chronic diseases investigated in this study was limited. Our findings showed that the major health issue within the study population was multimorbidity.