Examining the association between health status and subjective life expectancy among older Indian adults based on the mindsponge approach

Gender and socioeconomic differences in subjective life expectancy (SLE) are an unexplored arena in the geriatric literature concerning low-resource settings. Information on several health outcomes that might influence the SLE could guide targeted interventions, particularly in countries with rapidly ageing populations like India. This study aimed to explore SLE and the associations of SLE with the objective and subjective health status of older Indian adults, based on the mindsponge mechanism that links the contextual factors with individuals' evaluation of health. Data from the Longitudinal Ageing Study in India were used and the final sample included 5969 older adults aged 60 years and above. Independent t-tests were used to assess the gender difference in SLE according to various health-related factors. Additionally, we used generalized linear regression models (GLMs) with a logit link and a binomial family to fulfil the study objectives. The proportion of older adults who reported a 100% probability of survival for a 1-year period was nearly 38%, compared with 12% and 6% of the respondents who reported the same for 5 and 10 years survival periods, respectively. Older men reported a greater average probability of own survival than older women for all the time periods. Older men who reported poor self-rated health had a significantly lower SLE for a 1-year period (β = −0.232, SD = 0.107) and a 5-year period (β = −0.226, SD = 0.077) than those who reported good self-rated health. On the other hand, older women with poor self-rated health had a significantly lower SLE for a 10 years time horizon than women with good self-rated health. Underweight men had significantly lower SLE for a 1-year period than men with normal BMI (β = −0.213, SD = 0.097). Further, cognitively impaired women reported significantly lower SLE for a 1-year period (β = −0.399, SD = 0.108) and 5 years period (β = −0.160, SD = 0.077). Depressed older men reported significantly lower SLE for 1-year period (β = −0.309, SD = 0.101), 5-year period (β = −0.194, SD = 0.084), and 10-year period (β = −0.129, SD = 0.071). The current findings, supporting the mindsponge mechanism, indicate that older adults base their estimation of longevity on health factors that they are aware of or not. This finding has significant implications for health professionals and public policy in planning targeted interventions that can benefit at-risk population cohorts.