Using household surveys and other information sources to study health equity in Latin America and the Caribbean

ABSTRACT

There are many types of household surveys. The discussion that follows will focus on what is know as "general-purpose household surveys." Such surveys were devised to study household expenditures (and/or income), job and occupational conditions, education of the members of the household (both highest level of attainment and current enrollment), conditions of the dwelling, and access to and utilization of services, including health services. The surveys usually also include a few questions on self-assesment of health status and the presence of health problems. Some of the surveys also include modules for special population groups such as children and women of reproductive age. The modules may cover such topics as immunizations, prevalence of diarrhea, upper respiratory tract illnesses in children, complete birth histories for women, and women's use of contraceptive methods. While they almost never have information on expenditures or income, they do include data about conditions of the dwelling, education, crowding, and other characteristics. These data allow some limited analyses of the relationships that health-seeking behaviors, health outcomes, and access to and utilization of some types of health care services have some aspects of the social and economic determinants of inequalities (AU)