Regional Institute for Population Studies, College of Humanities, University of Ghana, P. O. Box LG 96, Legon, Accra, Ghana.
Department of Social Statistics and Demography, Faculty of Social and Human Sciences, University of Southampton, Highfield, Southampton, UK.
Health Qual Life Outcomes. 2018 Apr 24;16(1):74. doi: 10.1186/s12955-018-0894-y.
Global discourse on population, health and development have placed women's health issues at the top of development agenda. Women's reproductive health has received some attention in Ghana since the mid-1990s. However, studies on women's general health status, dimensions and the differentials in a rapidly growing urban setting is poorly understood and under-researched. This study sought to examine the various pathways in which individual socio-demographic factors, economic characteristics and endowment influence self-assessed health status among women living in the city of Accra, Ghana.
The paper draws on a cross-sectional study carried out in 2008 and 2009 using a representative sample of urban women 20 years and older (n = 2814). Multivariate stepwise linear regression models were performed to investigate the influence of socio-demographic, economic and health indicators on health-related quality of life, measured by eight sub-scales of the Short Form-36 (SF-36). Interaction effects between some demographic and socio-economic variables were also performed.
The analyses show diverse relationships between demographic, socio-economic and health indicators and health outcomes assessed using eight SF-36 sub-scales. Education, disease symptoms and age of the respondent were the most significant factors influencing good overall health status. Interestingly, age has no significant effect on mental health after controlling for all other explanatory variables.
The findings show that health issues are multi-faceted requiring socio-cultural, health and economic policy interventions. Investing in women's education is important to improve health status. There is also the need for more effective collaboration across various sectors to improve the health and well-being of women in general. Ageing has increasing relationship with poor physical health status and the elderly should be given needed attention and support.
全球人口、健康和发展的讨论将妇女健康问题置于发展议程的首位。自 20 世纪 90 年代中期以来，加纳对妇女生殖健康问题给予了一定关注。然而，在快速发展的城市环境中，妇女一般健康状况、维度和差异的研究还很薄弱，研究不足。本研究旨在探讨个体社会人口因素、经济特征和禀赋影响加纳阿克拉市妇女自我评估健康状况的各种途径。
本文利用 2008 年至 2009 年进行的一项横断面研究，使用 20 岁及以上城市妇女的代表性样本（n=2814）。采用多元逐步线性回归模型，研究社会人口、经济和健康指标对健康相关生活质量的影响，健康相关生活质量通过 8 个短表-36（SF-36）子量表来衡量。还对一些人口和社会经济变量之间的交互效应进行了分析。
分析表明，人口、社会经济和健康指标与使用 8 个 SF-36 子量表评估的健康结果之间存在多种关系。教育、疾病症状和受访者年龄是影响整体健康状况的最重要因素。有趣的是，在控制所有其他解释变量后，年龄对心理健康没有显著影响。
研究结果表明，健康问题是多方面的，需要社会文化、健康和经济政策干预。投资于妇女教育对于改善健康状况很重要。还需要在各个部门之间进行更有效的合作，以改善妇女的健康和福祉。随着年龄的增长，健康状况与身体欠佳的关系越来越密切，应给予老年人所需的关注和支持。
