PREVALENCE OF CHRONIC DISEASES AND UTILIZATION OF HEALTH CARE AMONG ADULTS, INDIA

The objective of this paper is to study the chronic diseases prevalence with selected characteristics of adults and their utilization of health care. For this study, ‘Global Aging and Adult Health' (SAGE) data has been used. SAGE is a longitudinal study with the national representative group of aged 50 and older with comparison samples of younger adults aged 18–49 years in the country. To analyse the data, descriptive and bi-variety analysis was used. Findings reveal that prevalence of the symptom-based chronic diseases was higher among older people, illiterates and poor adults. The female respondents were more likely to suffer from undiagnosed arthritis, angina and depression as compared to males. Respondents who were currently economically productive were more likely to report for chronic diseases