Disability and Handicap among Elderly Singaporeans

Satyender Singh Yadav
Correspondence: Satyender Singh Yadav, ssyadav@hotmail.com

ABSTRACT
Singapore's elderly population has been growing rapidly and is expected to constitute more than 25 percent of the total population by the year 2030. The ageing process brings with it a host of health problems. Here the question arises--Are the increasing years of life going to create a high proportion of sick and disabled elderly people, or a rich human resource of healthy senior citizens? Since more women are living longer than men, who would face a higher risk of disability and handicap? These questions are yet to be answered in Singapore. This paper seeks answers to these questions. The study is based on a sample survey of 1209 elderly Singaporeans living in Kampong Glam, Kreta Ayer and Bukit Merah parliamentary constituencies which have some of the highest proportions of the aged population. The results revealed that more than half of the aged had a disability and the rate of disability was significantly higher among the women as compared to the men. More than one-third of the elderly had a handicap and the rate of handicap among the women was twice as much as that among the men. Severity of handicap was directly correlated with age.

Keywords: Ageing, Disability, Handicap, Area of Handicap, Severity of Handicap
Singapore Med J 2001; 42(8): 360-367