Characterizing multidimensional poverty in Migori County, Kenya and its association with depression

Abstract

Introduction Narrow, unidimensional measures of poverty often fail to measure true poverty and inadequately capture its drivers. Multidimensional indices of poverty more accurately capture the diversity of poverty. There is little research regarding the association between multidimensional poverty and depression. Methods A cross-sectional survey was administered in five sub-locations in Migori County, Kenya. A total of 4,765 heads of household were surveyed. Multidimensional poverty indices were used to determine the association of poverty with depression using the Patient Health Questionnaire (PHQ-8) depression screening tool. Results Across the geographic areas surveyed, the overall prevalence of household poverty (deprivation headcount) was 19.4%, ranging from a low of 13.6% in Central Kamagambo to a high of 24.6% in North Kamagambo. Overall multidimensional poverty index varied from 0.053 in Central Kamagambo to 0.098 in North Kamagambo. Of the 3,939 participants with depression data available, 481 (12.2%) met the criteria for depression based on a PHQ-8 depression score ≥10. Poverty showed a dose-response association with depression. Conclusions Multidimensional poverty indices can be used to accurately capture poverty in rural Kenya and to characterize differences in poverty across areas. There is a clear association between multidimensional poverty and depressive symptoms, including a dose effect with increasing poverty intensity. This supports the importance of multifaceted poverty policies and interventions to improve wellbeing and reduce depression.

Peruvian National Survey of Mental Health and Service Utilization in the third year of the COVID-19 pandemic: Protocol for a nationally representative multistage survey

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Childhood mortality and associated factors in Migori County, Kenya: evidence from a cross-sectional survey

“…To monitor impact and allow for improvement, a repeated cross-sectional household survey was designed to assess a wide variety of health metrics in both programming and control areas. [14][15][16][17][18] This study aims to use the most recent iteration of this survey to expand our prior mortality work.…”

“…Programming includes an innovative community-led health programme that activates community governance structures, professionalises the community health worker (CHW) role, incorporates traditional birth attendants into the healthcare system and supports public health facilities to improve the quality of care. To monitor impact and allow for improvement, a repeated cross-sectional household survey was designed to assess a wide variety of health metrics in both programming and control areas 14–18. This study aims to use the most recent iteration of this survey to expand our prior mortality work.…”