Health disparities between native and foreign-born older population in India: Does migration status matter in later life?

IF 3.5 2区医学 Q1 PUBLIC, ENVIRONMENTAL & OCCUPATIONAL HEALTH

BMC Public Health Pub Date : 2025-03-28 DOI:10.1186/s12889-025-22297-z

Vasim Ahamad, Ram B Bhagat

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Abstract

Background: Ageing and migration are both contemporary phenomena and challenging for modern society in the 21st century. Persons ageing with migration status might have a double risk of vulnerability to poor health outcomes. This study examines the health disparities between foreign-born and native populations in India.

Methods: The data drawn for the study from the Longitudinal Ageing Study in India (LASI) Wave-I (2017-18). The study used univariate and bivariate analysis to examine health disparities between native and foreign-born groups, and logistic regression analysis was used to examine the association between migration status and health outcomes of older persons.

Results: Over fifty percent (56.5%) of the older persons (age 60+ years) were migrants; of these migrants of older persons, 55% were internally migrated, and 1.5% were foreign-born migrants in India. The foreign-born migrants persons showed a higher prevalence of poor SRH, chronic conditions, depression symptoms, and physical limitations than internal migrants and non-migrant groups. Further, the logistic regression result shows that foreign-born migrants were more likely to have poor SRH [AOR:1.72; CI: 1.45-2.04], chronic conditions [AOR=1.56; CI: 1.26-1.81], depression symptoms [AOR 1.14; CI: 1.07-1.21], and physical limitations [AOR 1.29; CI: 1.21-1.38], than non-migrants. Moreover, the study shows that the migrants' health disparities also vary with their length of stay and country of origin.

Conclusions: This cross-sectional study suggests that persons with internal and foreign-born migrant status were more vulnerable to poor health outcomes than non-migrants in their later life. This study predicts that migrants need separate health policies as they are in poorer health conditions than non-migrants. Policymakers should initiate equal access to healthcare services for older internal and foreign-born migrants in India.

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来源期刊

BMC Public Health 医学-公共卫生、环境卫生与职业卫生

CiteScore

6.50

自引率

4.40%

发文量

2108

审稿时长

1 months

期刊介绍： BMC Public Health is an open access, peer-reviewed journal that considers articles on the epidemiology of disease and the understanding of all aspects of public health. The journal has a special focus on the social determinants of health, the environmental, behavioral, and occupational correlates of health and disease, and the impact of health policies, practices and interventions on the community.