Geriatrics Health in India

Adults over the age of 50 years are in many countries the fastest growing segment of the world’s population and their numbers are increasing by 8 billion every month. They have become the fastest segment of the population in many developing countries. The size of India’s older adult population is greater than the total population of many developed and developing countries. Over the next four decades, India’s demographic structure is expected to shift dramatically from a young to an aging population resulting in 316 million elderly persons by 2050. The geriatric population faces multidimensional problems not only from economic, social, mental and other problems but also medical and health problems. In India, chronic diseases are now constituted as the leading cause of death and disability among old in both urban and rural areas. A national survey states that the prevalence of chronic diseases among the aged population is very higher than the general population and it was higher in the urban areas (55%) than the rural areas (52%).The current book aims to describe the health status of geriatrics population in India.