Residential area as proxy for socio-economic status, paediatric mortality and birth weight in Lusaka, Zambia
Mweemba, A.J.Masiya.; Webb, E.
Journal of tropical pediatrics 54(6): 406-409
2008
ISSN/ISBN: 1465-3664 PMID: 18522998 DOI: 10.1093/tropej/fmn041Document Number: 204488
Systems of socio-economic classification comparable to the Registrar General's Social Classification or post codes are not readily available in many developing countries. Thus health data from developing countries are usually presented without a refined geographical focus. The hierarchical urban residential classification system in Zambia was used as a socio-economic proxy to explore the relationship with mass measures of paediatric health in Lusaka, Zambia. This study shows that the Zambian urban residential classification system appears to be a valid proxy of socio-economic status, revealing residential gradients with respect to birth weight and paediatric mortality rates in Lusaka.