Examining Population Structure of Rajasthan with Implications for Public Health Planning and rate Standardization to support Eye and Vision Care Public Health Programming

Abstract

Introduction: Scientific thinking and methods are necessary in order to make valid comparisons of the distribution of health outcomes within and across populations. To date, no prior report has been identified as examining the population structure of Rajasthan and its implication for public health planning applied to eye health and vision care service utilization. In this report, the population structure of Rajasthan was examined based on official projections. A brief discussion was offered for the use of population structure data in public health planning, specifically to support eye health and vision care public health programming in Rajasthan.

Methods: Using an ecological design, secondary data were used to examine the projected population structures of Rajasthan and India from 2016 to 2026. The data were abstracted from publically-available reports and organized by age group and sex for 2016, 2021, and 2026. Population pyramids were constructed
for the data from each of the three aforementioned years for both the population of Rajasthan and the corresponding data for the population of India.

Results: The projected population of Rajasthan is expected to rise from 2016 to 2026. During this tenyear time span, the proportion of individuals in the younger age groups (birth to 34 years) will represent a sizable number of individuals compared to those in the older age groups. A comparison of the projected population structures, by age-group strata and sex, showed differences in population pyramids.

Discussion: These findings suggest that, when making public health planning decisions for Rajasthan, public health planners concerned with eye conditions and vision care service utilization might consider the distribution of population by age grouping. Furthermore, it might be appropriate to establish a “standard
reference population” for Rajasthan in order to compare age-standardized rates of eye conditions and vision care utilization through 2026.