Background
Gender health inequalities are largely socially determined. Though perception
of health differs between the genders in many societies, little is known of the
social determinants of gender inequalities in self-perceived health among the
urban poor in developing economies in sub-Saharan Africa.
Objectives
To identify the social determinants of self-perceived health among the genders
in an urban informal settlement in sub-Saharan Africa and to determine the
extent of the gender health inequalities.
Methods
This cross-sectional and observational community based study was carried out
between August and November 2012 in Korogocho informal settlement of
Nairobi, capital of Kenya; a sub-Saharan African country. Primary data were
collected with pre-tested structured questionnaires from randomly selected
adults aged 25 to 59 years residing in Korogocho. The independent variables
were age, education and employment status. The dependent variable was
categorized into poor and good self-perceived health. Data were analyzed with SPSS v 20. Statistical
significance was set at P<0.05.