Geographic region and health outcomes: Examining health determinants and outcomes of older adults across Ghana’s North‒South divide
Research Square
2024
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Example: if you select the 1-year option for an article published in 2019 and a metric category shows 90%, that means that the article or review is performing better than 90% of the other articles/reviews published in that journal in 2019. If you select the 3-year option for the same article published in 2019 and the metric category shows 90%, that means that the article or review is performing better than 90% of the other articles/reviews published in that journal in 2019, 2018 and 2017.
Citation Benchmarking is provided by Scopus and SciVal and is different from the metrics context provided by PlumX Metrics.
Article Description
Healthcare services and outcomes are often not evenly distributed across geographic regions. This study used the harmonized Research on Early Life and Aging Trends and Effects (RELATE) dataset to compare health outcomes across the North‒South divide of Ghana and determine the factors underlying the difference in health outcomes. Although the literature indicates that the South has more health resources and better health indicators, the study found that health outcomes in the North were comparatively better than those in the South. According to the optimal health index scores, people in the North are living at 86 percent of their optimal health, while 82 percent are living at their optimal health in the South. In both regions, optimal health was substantially influenced by work-related physical activity and age. Older adults whose work involved vigorous activities had better health outcomes, but health outcomes decreased as people aged. The study also revealed that healthcare use and sex influence health outcomes, particularly in the southern region. The results showed that older adult women in the South have poorer health outcomes than their male counterparts. It has also been shown that older adults in the South are more likely to contact health professionals for medical conditions.
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