BACKGROUND The relationship between social capital and self-rated health has been documented in many developed compared to developing countries. Because social capital and health play important roles in development, it may be valuable to study their relationship in the context of a developing country with poorer health status. Further, the role of social capital research for health policy has n...

The social determinants of health (SDH) are recognized as important indicators of health and well-being. Health-care services (primary, secondary, tertiary care) have not until recently been considered an SDH. Inequities in access to health care are changing this view. These inequities include barriers faced by certain population groups at point of care, such as the lack of cultural competence ...

in recent years, the high level of consumption in iranian society has provoked wide social and political debates. nevertheless, there have been few systematic social studies to examine social and individual factors that influence consumption values and behaviors. this paper examines social determinants of consumption aspiration of married women. data for the study collected through a cross-sect...

According to the national Demographic and Health Surveys (DHS), between 10% and 90% of women in poorer countries agree that domestic violence against women is justified. Such wide variation in women’s responses raises concerns about the comparability of the underlying attitudinal question, and the validity of comparative research that assumes comparability. Using 67 DHS conducted in 48 countrie...

Premarital fertility, defined as birth before first marriage, is investigated in Madagascar, using two Demographic and Health Surveys (DHS) conducted in 1992 and 1997. About 8 per cent of all births and 23 per cent of first births take place before marriage, despite a low underlying mean age at first marriage, estimated to be 18.6 years in the absence of a previous birth. A premarital first bir...

Surveys conducted in the context of the Demographic and Health Surveys (DHS) programme are an important source of data on health of families in developing countries. Both at the national and international level, DHS surveys provide much-needed data on fertility and family planning, on mortality and nutrition, and on health services utilization. The use of uniform survey instruments allows detai...

Turkey has been experiencing significant fertility decline since the 1950s. Increasing mean ages at childbearing have accompanied this decline, thus studies regarding tempo effects are necessary for Turkey. The main aim of this study is to reveal the tempo distortions in recent period fertility in Turkey as a whole and for different sub-groups by using an adjustment procedure. A procedure by Bo...

In Nigeria, decades of protracted military rule deepened poverty and created a situation in which many children are undernourished. According to the last National Demographic and Health Survey (NDHS, 2003), 29% of Nigerian children under five years are considered underweight. Today Nigeria is among the ten countries in the world with the largest number of underweight children, with an estimated...

Background The importance of the social determinants of health (SDH) and barriers to the access and utilization of healthcare have been widely recognized but not previously studied in the context of universal healthcare coverage (UHC) in Brazil and other developing countries. Objective To evaluate a set of proposed indicators of SDH and barriers to the access and utilization of healthcare - pro...

Background Action on the social determinants of health (SDH) is relevant for reducing health inequalities. This is particularly the case for South Africa (SA) with its very high level of income inequality and inequalities in health and health outcomes. This paper provides evidence on the key SDH for reducing health inequalities in the country using a framework initially developed by the World H...