Neighbourhood effects and women’s health outcomes: a multilevel perspective

Faustina Frempong-Ainguah, University of Ghana

Research in the field of social epidemiology have argued that beyond the individual and biological factors, health status is influenced by the physical, social, environmental and changes in their occurrences over time. This paper examines the effect of neighbourhood socioeconomic status, hygienic index and housing quality on Physical Health status and emotional wellbeing among women in Accra, Ghana. The study draws on the 2008 Women Health Study of Accra and 2000 Population Census. Multilevel ordinal logistic regression models were employed to investigate neighbourhood effects on physical and mental wellbeing. The results revealed significant neighbourhood differences in levels of physical health and emotional well-being. Respondents’ age was negatively associated with their physical health (p<0.001). Thirty percent of the elderly rated their mental health better than the younger age groups (20-49) at 18%. Residents in unhygienic neighbourhoods rated their mental well-being 2.1times relative to residents in the most hygienic neighbourhoods.