Multilevel Analysis of Community Effects on Health Knowledge and Child Health in Coastal Ghana: Evidence from the 2002 Ghana Population and Environment Survey

Catherine S. Andrzejewski, Brown University
Holly E. Reed, Brown University
Michael J. White, Brown University

There is a growing body of demographic research on the effects of community characteristics on human health (e.g., Browning and Cagney 2002, Leclere et al. 1998). Yet relatively little has yet been done regarding community effects on children’s health in developing countries (Parashar 2005; Sastry 1997, 1996; Steele et al. 1996), particularly sub-Saharan Africa (DeRose and Kulkarni 2005; Fotso and Kuate-Defo 2005). Most demographic analyses of child morbidity in African settings focus on individual- or household-level determinants; few go beyond demonstrating the disadvantages rural children face versus urban children. Infant and child morbidity and mortality remain relatively high in Ghana and most deaths are due to infectious illnesses like malaria, respiratory infections, and diarrheal diseases. Using primary data collected in 2002, this paper utilizes multilevel models to examine the effect of community characteristics on knowledge of etiology and prevention of child illnesses as well as health outcomes in coastal Ghana.