title: Is there evidence for dual causation between malaria and socioeconomic status? Findings from rural Tanzania.
abstract: Malaria's relationship with socioeconomic status at the macroeconomic level has been established. This is the first study to explore this relationship at the microeconomic (household) level and estimate the direction of association. Malaria prevalence was measured by parasitemia, and household socioeconomic status was measured using an asset based index. Results from an instrumental variable probit model suggest that socioeconomic status is negatively associated with malaria parasitemia. Other variables that are significantly associated with parasitemia include age of the individual, use of a mosquito net on the night before interview, the number of people living in the household, whether the household was residing at their farm home at the time of interview, household wall construction, and the region of residence. Matching estimators indicate that malaria parasitemia is associated with reduced household socioeconomic status.
authors.affiliation: Australian Centre for Economic Research on Health, Australian National University, Canberra, Australia. masha.somi@anu.edu.au
authors.forename: Masha F
authors.initials: MF
authors.lastname: Somi
authors.forename: James R G
authors.initials: JR
authors.lastname: Butler
authors.forename: Farshid
authors.initials: F
authors.lastname: Vahid
authors.forename: Joseph
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Njau
authors.forename: S Patrick
authors.initials: SP
authors.lastname: Kachur
authors.forename: Salim
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Abdulla
mesh_terms: D000328:Adult; D000704:Analysis of Variance; D000818:Animals; D002675:Child, Preschool; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D008288:Malaria / Q000191:economics* / Q000453:epidemiology*; D008297:Male; D018512:Parasitemia / Q000191:economics* / Q000453:epidemiology*; D010961:Plasmodium / Q000302:isolation & purification; D012044:Regression Analysis; D012307:Risk Factors; D012423:Rural Health; D012424:Rural Population / Q000706:statistics & numerical data*; D012959:Socioeconomic Factors; D013636:Tanzania / Q000453:epidemiology