In the pooled data, statistically significant effects were demonstrated for marital status, household items ownership, deprivation and economic activity in models controlling for age, gender and country.
In a scoring system, one point was assigned to each of the following 9 items: ownership of a television, refrigerator, tractor, water pump, complete house construction, brick/plastered walls, tiled/asbestos roof; ownership of land, and cultivation of at least 2.5 acres of land.
Item ownership: Radio, TV, bicycle, motorbike, car, refrigerator, telephone.
The individual level ORs for item ownership were attenuated only very slightly when neighbourhood level average item ownership was included in the models, thus suggesting a contextual effect of neighbourhood average item ownership independent of individual level ownership.
However, only in females were the relationship between neighbourhood average item ownership and SRH statistically significant.
In the final model for females, only item ownership remained statistically significant when more than one SES variable was included.
For males, none were statistically significant in the multivariable model, but item ownership has been included for comparison.
The resultant final model ORs for neighbourhood level average item ownership were the same to one decimal place.
For the analysis, the number of item ownership was categorized into quartiles (25th percentile ≤ 3 items; 50th percentile 4 items; 75th percentile 5 6 items).
Five individual-level SES measures, namely education, employment, car ownership, item ownership and household density, were aggregated to the level of neighbourhood.
Finally, the number of item ownership was explored according to the Bolivian National Statistical Institute classification (radio, TV, bicycle, motorbike, car, refrigerator and telephone).
