title: Residential characteristics as correlates of occupants' health in the greater Accra region, Ghana.
abstract: BACKGROUND
  Housing has been a relatively neglected site for public health action. However, it remains a place where human beings spend the most part of their day. As a result, the quality of housing has consequences for human health. We investigate residential characteristics associated with self-rated occupant health in five neighbourhoods in the Greater Accra Region, Ghana.
  
  
  METHODS
  A cross sectional study using a semi-structured questionnaire was conducted among 500 informed adults aged 18 years and above to investigate residential characteristics associated with self-rated occupant health in five neighbourhoods in the Greater Accra Region, Ghana. Correlates of occupant rated health were determined using Pearson chi-square test and binary logistic regression.
  
  
  RESULTS
  Forty-two per cent of houses were rented, 44% required repair and 46% shared sanitation facilities. One in twenty occupants reported poor health. Gender, employment status, income, ventilation, house wall material, odours, stale air, privacy, shared facilities, hand washing facility, type of house and house repair status were associated with poor health in the bivariate analysis. Only two variables were independently associated with poor self-rated health: occupants who lacked privacy were eight times more likely to report poor self-rated health when compared to peers who did not lack privacy [OR=8.16, 95% CI 2.86-23.26] and women were three times more likely than men to report poor health [OR=2.98, 95% CI 1.06-8.35].
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  The results provide further evidence of housing as a determinant of occupants' health, and identify housing characteristics and living conditions as issues for public health action in Ghana.
authors.affiliation: Department of Biological, Occupational and Environmental Health, School of Public Health, University of Ghana, Legon, Accra, Ghana. emiliaudf@yahoo.com.
authors.forename: Emilia Asuquo
authors.initials: EA
authors.lastname: Udofia
authors.forename: Alfred E
authors.initials: AE
authors.lastname: Yawson
authors.forename: Kwesi Adu
authors.initials: KA
authors.lastname: Aduful
authors.forename: Francis Mulekya
authors.initials: FM
authors.lastname: Bwambale
mesh_terms: D000328:Adult; D003430:Cross-Sectional Studies; D004651:Employment; D005260:Female; D005869:Ghana; D006304:Health Status; D006798:Housing / Q000592:standards / Q000706:statistics & numerical data; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D012499:Sanitation; D012737:Sex Factors; D011795:Surveys and Questionnaires