ArticleBMC palliative care2026
Healthcare burden and impoverishment among older adults with palliative care needs in India: findings from a nationally representative study.
Article in BMC palliative care, 2026. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 1 paper.
What it found
Each row is one number read from the abstract, on the scale the paper reported it, with its interval. Left of the dashed line favours the treatment, right favours the comparator. Under each row is the sentence it came from. New to these charts? A ten-minute tutorial.
The abstract states no effect estimate the extractor could read, or names no intervention and outcome on the map, so this paper lights no cell and moves no belief. It is still indexed, cited and linked below.
The trial behind it
Trials whose registry record cites this paper, or whose number appears in the abstract. A trial that started after this paper was published is citing it as background, not reporting it.
Neither the registry nor the abstract names a trial number. If this is a trial report, that itself is worth knowing.
Who cites it
1 citing paper in PubMed.
- Public-private healthcare utilisation and satisfaction among older adults with palliative care needs in India: a study based on Longitudinal Ageing Study in India.BMC health services research · 2026Article
Corrections and comments
PubMed lists nothing against this paper. Absence here is not a guarantee, only a check that was made.
Authors and funding
5 authors.
Funding
No grant is acknowledged in the PubMed record.
Abstract
backgroundOut-of-pocket health expenditure (OOPE) is a significant public health concern in India, with an estimated 55 million individuals pushed into poverty due to healthcare expenses. Evidence on the burden and patterns of OOPE among older adults requiring palliative care, and the financial strain faced by them, is limited.
methodsData from the Longitudinal Ageing Study in India (LASI) identified 2903 older adults aged 60 years and more with palliative care needs using the Supportive and Palliative Care Indicator Tool for Low-Income Settings (SPICT-LIS). Annual healthcare expenditure and OOPE were estimated separately for outpatient care and hospitalisation. At the household level, OOPE and Catastrophic Healthcare Expenditure (CHE) were calculated for the last month. CHE prevalence was mapped across India's states. The Kruskal-Wallis test and Multivariate logistic regression were used to assess differences in mean expenditure and identify household factors associated with CHE, respectively.
resultsThe mean annual health expenditure for older adults with palliative care needs was ₹5002 for outpatient care and ₹36,263 for hospitalisation. OOPE accounted for 94% of outpatient and 82% of hospitalisation costs. Significant hospitalisation costs were associated with cancers (₹267,797), heart diseases (₹93,003), and stroke/neurological illnesses (₹54,913). Distress financing methods, such as liquidating savings (24.4%) and taking loans (26.5%), were standard. Nearly one-third of household health spending was attributed to older adults in need of palliative care, with 21.6% of these households facing CHE.
conclusionThe healthcare needs of older adults requiring palliative care are predominantly funded out of pocket. One in five households with older adults needing palliative care faces catastrophic healthcare expenses, highlighting the need for expanded palliative care programs and health insurance to alleviate economic hardships.
Indexed as
Identifiers
What Socratic holds
Registered trials
Read under generation 80e0d062 · epoch 390. Bibliography from PubMed, PubMed Central and OpenAlex; grants from NIH RePORTER; trial links from ClinicalTrials.gov; estimates, votes and beliefs from the Socratic graph.