While the official estimates of poverty in India are derived from the consumption expenditure data, economic proxies are increasingly used to explain the differentials in health and healthcare utilisation in population-based surveys. Using data from the World Health Survey, India, 2003, covering a nationally representative sample of 10,750 households and 9,994 adults, this paper examines the extent of agreement of monthly per capita consumption expenditure and economic proxies (combined with the wealth index) with the differentials in health estimates according to two alternative measures. It finds that economic differentials in health and healthcare utilisation based on economic proxies are not similar to those of direct measures. There is an urgent need to integrate an abridged version of the consumption expenditure schedule in population-based health surveys. The results also indicate that the extent of agreement of the mpce with the wealth index is weak. Only 31% of households are classified in the same quintile of mpce and wealth index and the health estimates are sensitive to these two measures.
