How indicators of socioeconomic status relate to physical functioning of older adults in three Asian societies

Journal ArticleIn developed countries, socioeconomic status has been identified as one of the most important demographic and social determinants of older adult health. The relationship has not been well studied or contrasted across much of the developing world. Yet, with population aging occurring rapidly in much of Asia, understanding the factors that distinguish between those in better and worse health becomes important. To this end, the current study has two main aims. It first examines the degree to which two measures commonly used to indicate socioeconomic status, education and income, relate to the physical functioning of older adults in three Asian societies-Taiwan, Thailand, and the Philippines. These three societies are all experiencing population aging, although to varying degrees. They are also characterized by differences in levels of national economic development, a factor that may influence the extent to which health care is available for those in varying socioeconomic positions. Second, the study explores the degree to which these associations are consistent across the three settings. The study results in both expected and unexpected findings. Socioeconomic status indicators are linked to health, but inconsistently across the three settings. Associations are strongest in Taiwan, weaker in Thailand, and almost nonexistent in the Philippines. This leads to questions regarding the universality of the relationship. The paper concludes with a discussion of the possible reasons that socioeconomic status may not influence the health of older adults in consistent ways across different societies, including the effect that economic development can have on health outcomes

The Economic Crisis and Desires for Children and Marriage in Thailand(<Special Issue>Population and Globalization)

この論文は国立情報学研究所の学術雑誌公開支援事業により電子化されました

Sexual activity among older Thais: The influence of age, gender and health

This study examines sexual activity among thepopulation aged 50 and over in Thailand inrelation to age, gender and health status. Itis the first study of older persons based on alarge nationally representative survey in anynon-Western or developing country. The resultsindicate substantial proportions of oldermarried Thais remain sexually active, but atlower levels than found in Western countries. Sexual activity and desire decline steadilywith age for both married men and women but atany given age both are lower for women. Overall, the sexual desire of husbands is a farmore important determinant of marital sexualactivity than that of wives. Poor healthdepresses activity and desire but does notaccount for the decline of either with age. Forthe majority of older married Thai men andwomen behavior and desires are concordant. Discordance levels for married women exceedthose for men, however, and arise primarilyfrom being active but lacking desire. Possiblereasons for lower sexual activity relative toWestern countries are considered. Implicationsfor the quality of life of older persons andthe AIDS epidemic are discussed together withmethodological lessons for research on olderage sexual behavior.Peer Reviewedhttp://deepblue.lib.umich.edu/bitstream/2027.42/42982/1/10823_2004_Article_353772.pd

The Changing Well-Being of Thai elderly

This report provides an up-to-date and comprehensive overview concerning the situation of persons age 60 and over in Thailand. Chapters describe population aging in Thailand and government responses, social and demographic characteristics, living arrangements, sources of support and material well-being, family support and intergenerational relations, health status and options for the future.HelpAge Internationalhttp://deepblue.lib.umich.edu/bitstream/2027.42/100344/1/Full report final.pd

How indicators of socioeconomic status relate to physical functioning of older adults in three Asian societies

In developed countries, socioeconomic status has been identified as one of the most important demographic and social determinants of older adult health. The relationship has not been well studied or contrasted across much of the developing world. Yet, with population aging occurring rapidly in much of Asia, understanding the factors that distinguish between those in better and worse health becomes important. To this end, the current study has two main aims. It first examines the degree to which two measures commonly used to indicate socioeconomic status, education and income, relate to the physical functioning of older adults in three Asian societies—Taiwan, Thailand, and the Philippines. These three societies are all experiencing population aging, although to varying degrees. They are also characterized by differences in levels of national economic development, a factor that may influence the extent to which health care is available for those in varying socioeconomic positions. Second, the study explores the degree to which these associations are consistent across the three settings. The study results in both expected and unexpected findings. Socioeconomic status indicators are linked to health, but inconsistently across the three settings. Associations are strongest in Taiwan, weaker in Thailand, and almost nonexistent in the Philippines. This leads to questions regarding the universality of the relationship. The paper concludes with a discussion of the possible reasons that socioeconomic status may not influence the health of older adults in consistent ways across different societies, including the effect that economic development can have on health outcomes

Support by migrants to their elderly parents in rural Cambodia and Thailand: A comparative study

Internal migration in Southeast Asia raises questions about strains upon traditional systems of support for older adults. While remittances to parents’ households play a role in rural household economies, uncertainty remains regarding whether and under what circumstances children interact with their elderly parents. This paper focuses on the adult children of older persons living in rural Cambodia and Thailand and examines the determinants of personal visits, monetary remittances, and more general forms of household support. Analyses consider ways in which geographically distant children support parents, the extent to which characteristics of parents, children, and households enhance or detract from these intergenerational interactions, and how determinants of intergenerational interaction vary between the two countries. Comparisons between countries of conditions and characteristics of families provide insights into how social, economic, and cultural forces motivate provision of support to aging parents

A Contextual Analysis of Demographic Phenomena in Rural Thailand.

This study examines the potential influence of both contextual (in terms of social, economic, cultural and physical environment) and individual characteristics on age at first marriage, desired family size, contraceptive use and fertility of a national rural sample of Thai women based on the 1975 data from the Survey of Fertility in Thailand . A model relating several exogenous factors at the individual and village levels to reproductive-related behavior and attitudes is proposed and tested through multiple regression analysis. The results indicate that for each dependent variable the most variance is accounted for by individual-level factors. Demographic individual characteristics have more predictive power than socioeconomic ones. The contribution of village characteristics in explaining each dependent variable, though not large, is statistically significant. Community characteristics generally have a greater explanatory effect on variables reflecting the current situation (desired family size, family planing usage and current fertility) than those reflecting past events (age at first marriage and cumulative fertility). After adjustment for individual effects, the impact of the community-level factors on each dependent variable is reduced substantially. In contrast, the effect of individual-level factors remained relatively unchanged after control for community-level factors. The results suggest that personal traits are more important than environmental or normative structure in determining individual demographic behavior. In addition although the results, to some extent, support the general hypothesis that community characteristics are associated with individual demographic behavior and attitudes, there appears to be no theoretically consistent pattern to the observed relationship between specific sets of community-level factors and the dependent variables. Some interactions between individual's desire for more children and education and the availability of family planning services on current use of contraception are significant statistically. Problems of measurement, especially of community-level variables as well as the limited amount of community level information, may have contributed to the weak and inconsistent associations observed between contextual and dependent variables.Ph.D.DemographyUniversity of Michiganhttp://deepblue.lib.umich.edu/bitstream/2027.42/158966/1/8224923.pd

Population Ageing and the Well-Being of Older Persons in Thailand: Past Trends, current situation and future challenges

http://deepblue.lib.umich.edu/bitstream/2027.42/83331/1/Paper_No_5.pd