Determinants of poor self-rated health among adults in urban Mozambique

BACKGROUND: Self-rated health is a measure expressing the general condition of health of individuals. Self-rated health studies are common in developed countries and in some developing regions. Despite increasing proportion of adult and older population in sub-Saharan Africa and poor population health indicators, there is a dearth of studies on self-rated health in the region. This study examines factors associated with poor self-rated health among adult individuals in Maputo metropolitan area in Mozambique. METHODS: Data for this study come from a survey of 1768 individuals aged 18 years or more carried out in Maputo metropolitan area, Mozambique, in 2015. Employing multiple logistic regression, the study used a subsample of 677 female and male respondents aged 40 years or more to estimate the determinants of poor self-rated health. RESULTS: About 54 % of respondents aged 40 years or more believed that their health status was poor. Female respondents [Odds Ratios (OR) = 3.43, p <0.01], single (OR = 4.71, p < 0.05), widow (OR = 1.81, p < 0.05), separated or divorced (OR = 2.08, p < 0.05) and those believing that hypertension or heart problem was a major community health problem (OR = 1.56, p < 0.05) displayed higher odds of reporting poor health than their peers, net of other factors. Furthermore, individuals aged 40–49 years (OR = 0.45, p < 0.01), or 50–59 years (OR = 0.59, p < 0.05), those whose work involves intensive physical activity (OR = 0.60, p < 0.05) and those from households treating drinking water (OR = 0.49, p < 0.01) showed lower odds of reporting poor health, adjusting for other factors. CONCLUSION: Overall, the results point to the importance of age, gender, marital status, socioeconomic circumstances, individuals’ health behaviors and perceived community health problems as key determinants of poor self-rated health among adults in Maputo metropolitan area. Given the growing number of adult and older people in sub-Saharan Africa, the rising importance of non-communicable diseases and the scarcity of studies on determinants of poor self-rated health among adults in the region, our findings may have implications for a better understanding of the drivers of poor health among adults in urban sub-Saharan Africa