| Sumario: | A proxy response by a person who has ample knowledge about the respondent and can be interviewed is an inevitable part of most large-scale surveys when the respondent is unable to answer. Using the sixtieth and seventy-first rounds of National Sample Surveys in 2004 and 2014, this study attempts to assess whether proxy responses regarding an elderly person's health have a systematic pattern in India or whether they are simply a chance factor. Region-based bias was found in proxy responses. Older age groups, females, rural residents, and Scheduled Tribe members had greater odds of using a proxy response whereas higher educational attainment reduced the odds of a proxy response. Proxy responses were closely associated with the demographic and socioeconomic background of the older adults in addition to the types of disease they were suffering from, leading to challenges in accurate assessment of the geriatric health scenario in India.
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