Abstract |
The impact of chronic diseases on the development of a nation cannot be overemphasized. The influences of socio-demographic/socio-economic factors on chronic disease conditions in Ghana are not well comprehended. The aim of this paper is to examine the effect of socio-demographic/socio-economic factors of Ghanaians on their chronic disease conditions. A longitudinal study with nationally representative samples was undertaken. The data employed in this study were drawn from the World Health Organization Global Ageing and Adult Health (SAGE), Wave 1, 2008-2009. The study suggested some level of chronic diseases in the Ghanaian populations. Asthma recorded the highest prevalence conditions with 3.4%, while Lung Disease recorded the least, 0.6%. However, Depression, Oral health, and Injuries fairly recoded 1.4%, 2.5% and 1.8% respectively. In addition, the strength of the age category groups tends heavily towards adults, and particularly older adults respectively. Most of the respondents belong to the Christian faith. There is fairly even distribution among males and females respectively. More than half of respondents were engaged in self-employment. Majority of the respondent belongs to the Akan ethnic group. Also, widowed respondents contracted depression and oral health disease conditions. This paper revealed that, in Ghana, the occurrences of chronic disease conditions are associated with some socio-demographic/socio-economic factors: age, sex, religion, ethnicity, marital status, occupation, level of education, and income levels. |