Basic Necessities and Health Indicators of Tribal Population of India: A Secondary Analysis from National Family Health Survey-IV

Background: Inequalities within tribal communities across India remain poorly understood. Accessibility to resources or health care is observed as a principle of primary health care. The accessibility factor has been least studied among the indigenous groups of country. Objective: To determine the correlation between accessibility of services and health indicators among tribal population of India using the indicators from National Family Health Survey report 2015-16. Methods: An ecological correlation using district reports of National Health and Family Survey-IV (2015-16) was conducted. The reports of tribal districts were used to select and analyze core health and nutrition indicators (dependent variables). Literacy, electricity, altitude, improved drinking water and sanitation facility were taken as accessibility to necessary indicators from the reports (independent variables). Results: Prevalence of diarrhea (r: -0.18, p: 0.80) and symptoms of acute respiratory illnesses (r:0.30, p:0.003) among children decreased with improved drinking water and sanitation facilities. Better literacy, water accessibility, electricity and sanitation were negatively correlated with prevalence of anemia and underweight among adults, however the prevalence of overweight, high blood sugar and high blood pressure increased. The increase in altitude was negatively correlated with nutritional indicators viz., prevalence of stunting (r: -0.34, p<0.001), wasting (r: -0.33, p<0.001) and underweight (r: -0.41, p<0.001) among children. Conclusion: The tribal districts with better accessibility to basic necessities fared better in terms of core health and nutrition indicators.