Assessing Sociodemographic Factors Associated with Household Hardships during the COVID-19 Pandemic in Manhiça, Mozambique using Data Collected between April 2021 and February 2022

Abstract

BackgroundCOVID-19 resulted in vast disruption to life in the 21stcentury. To quell the disease spread, national governments implemented several containment measures like state of emergency, curfews, and lockdowns that likely created hardships for households. To improve knowledge of the negative consequences of these lockdowns, we examine the extent to which the pandemic period was associated with hardships at the household level and assess factors associated with household vulnerability to these hardships.MethodsWe conducted a cross-sectional survey between April 2021 and February 2022 among households residing in the district of Manhiça through a survey questionnaire fielded in the Health and Demographic Surveillance System (HDSS) operating in Manhiça, Mozambique. Logistic regression was used to analyze associations between the head of household and household characteristics with specific household hardships (business closure, food price increase, household member detained, input inflation, job loss).ResultsHouseholds headed by individuals with lower education and employed in non-agricultural occupations as well as households that were larger in size or poorer in asset ownership compared to other households were generally at greater risk of experiencing a larger variety of hardships. Conversely, households that owned “distance demolishing technologies” such as motorcycles were less likely to experience these hardships, presumably as they were able to transcend local conditions.ConclusionsThese results identify at-risk groups according to a social determinants of vulnerability framework and will help inform future policies and practices that aim to mitigate the negative consequences of COVID-19 as well as future disease outbreaks.