A higher overall intrinsic capacity among older adults in India, especially better cognition, good nutrition, and better ability to move, is related with a lower risk of death, according to a study published in The Lancet Regional Health Southeast Asia journal.

Findings from the analysis of data from the Longitudinal Aging Study in India-Diagnostic Assessment of Dementia (LASI-DAD) highlight how functional abilities and not just diseases should be looked at while planning healthcare and interventions for ageing populations, researchers said.

The team, including researchers from the All India Institute of Medical Sciences, New Delhi, and National Health Service (NHS) Trust, University Hospitals Sussex in the UK, analysed data from 4096 community-dwelling individuals aged at least 60, 951 of whom died by the end of the study period.

Intrinsic capacity, a measure of physical and mental abilities combined, was evaluated across six domains of functioning -- cognition, mood, nutrition, locomotion, vision, and hearing.

"A higher IC (intrinsic capacity) score was associated with a lower risk of death," the authors wrote.

Risk of mortality was found to increase progressively with number of impaired domains of intrinsic capacity -- one impaired domain was associated with an increased risk of 48%, two with 110%, three with 71% and four with 215 %

Further, the researchers identified cognition, nutrition, and locomotion (movement) as the strongest predictors of survival.

"Older adults in India with higher overall intrinsic capacity -- particularly better cognition, good nutrition, and better locomotor capacity -- had a lower risk of death," the authors wrote.

"These findings highlight the importance of looking at functional abilities, not just diseases, when planning health care and interventions for ageing populations," they said.

The team said that most evidence on intrinsic capacity comes from high-income countries, linking a higher score with a lower risk of death.

They added that a few studies from low and middle-income countries, including India, have measured intrinsic capacity but none have looked at its relationship with mortality over time.

The study provides long-term evidence from India validating the World Health Organization's framework of intrinsic capacity in a low and middle-income setting, the team said.

An intrinsic capacity-based screening could allow for an early detection of vulnerable individuals before a visible disability appears in low and middle-income countries such as India where the ageing population is increasing and health systems face resource limitations, the researchers said.