Is There Evidence for Dual Causation Between Malaria and Socioeconomic Status? Findings from Rural Tanzania

Date

2007

Authors

Somi, Masha
Butler, James
Vahid, Farshid
Njau, Joseph
Kachur, S Patrick
Abdulla, Salim

Journal Title

Journal ISSN

Volume Title

Publisher

American Society of Tropical Medicine and Hygiene

Abstract

Malaria's relationship with socioeconomic status at the macroeconomic level has been established. This is the first study to explore this relationship at the microeconomic (household) level and estimate the direction of association. Malaria prevalence was measured by parasitemia, and household socioeconomic status was measured using an asset based index. Results from an instrumental variable probit model suggest that socioeconomic status is negatively associated with malaria parasitemia. Other variables that are significantly associated with parasitemia include age of the individual, use of a mosquito net on the night before interview, the number of people living in the household, whether the household was residing at their farm home at the time of interview, household wall construction, and the region of residence. Matching estimators indicate that malaria parasitemia is associated with reduced household socioeconomic status.

Description

Keywords

Keywords: adult; analysis of variance; animal; article; economics; female; health; human; isolation and purification; malaria; male; parasitemia; Plasmodium; preschool child; regression analysis; risk factor; rural population; socioeconomics; statistics; Tanzania;

Citation

Source

American Journal of Tropical Medicine and Hygiene

Type

Journal article

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DOI

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2037-12-31