Abstract
BackgroundPoverty and human capital development are inextricably linked and therefore research on human capital typically incorporates measures of economic well-being. In the context of randomized trials of health interventions, for example, such measures are used to: 1) assess baseline balance; 2) estimate covariate-adjusted analyses; and 3) conduct subgroup analyses. Many factors characterize economic well-being, however, and analysts often generate summary measures such as indices of household socio-economic status or wealth. In this paper, a household wealth index is developed and tested for participants in the cluster-randomized Sanitation, Hygiene, Infant Nutrition Efficacy (SHINE) trial in rural Zimbabwe.MethodsBuilding on the approach used in the Zimbabwe Demographic and Health Survey (ZDHS), we combined a set of housing characteristics, ownership of assets and agricultural resources into a wealth index using principal component analysis (PCA) on binary variables. The index was assessed for internal and external validity. Its sensitivity was examined considering an expanded set of variables and an alternative statistical approach of polychoric PCA. Correlation between indices was determined using the Spearman’s rank correlation coefficient and agreement between quintiles using a linear weighted Kappa statistic. Using the 2015 ZDHS data, we constructed a separate index and applied the loadings resulting from that analysis to the SHINE study population, to compare the wealth distribution in the SHINE study with rural Zimbabwe.ResultsThe derived indices using the different methods were highly correlated (r>0.9), and the wealth quintiles derived from the different indices had substantial to near perfect agreement (linear weighted Kappa>0.7). The indices were strongly associated with a range of assets and other wealth measures, indicating both internal and external validity. Households in SHINE were modestly wealthier than the overall population of households in rural Zimbabwe.ConclusionThe SHINE wealth index developed here is a valid and robust measure of wealth in the sample.
Highlights
Poverty and human capital development—including nutrition, health and education—are inextricably linked [1]
Building on the approach used in the Zimbabwe Demographic and Health Survey (ZDHS), we combined a set of housing characteristics, ownership of assets and agricultural resources into a wealth index using principal component analysis (PCA) on binary variables
Using baseline data from the Sanitation, Hygiene, Infant Nutrition Efficacy (SHINE) Trial conducted in rural Zimbabwe between 2012 and 2017 [11], we developed and validated a household wealth index
Summary
Poverty and human capital development—including nutrition, health and education—are inextricably linked [1]. Research on human capital typically collects measures of economic well-being and incorporates them into analyses. Studies of health outcomes commonly include an index of socio-economic status (SES) as a key covariate [2]. Such indices can reflect economic well-being better than a single asset or component, and use fewer degrees of freedom in statistical models compared with multiple assets [3]. Poverty and human capital development are inextricably linked and research on human capital typically incorporates measures of economic well-being. A household wealth index is developed and tested for participants in the cluster-randomized Sanitation, Hygiene, Infant Nutrition Efficacy (SHINE) trial in rural Zimbabwe
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