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Integrating rural–urban differentials in the appraisal of prevalence and risk factors of non-communicable diseases in South Africa

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Abstract

Despite the increasing prevalence of non-communicable diseases in South Africa, there remains a dearth of nationally representative geographic analysis of the prevalence and risk factors of these diseases. The study, therefore, examines the spatially varying prevalence and risk factors of non-communicable diseases in South Africa. Data was from the 2014 National Income Dynamics (NIDS) survey, which was conducted in 9 provinces and 52 districts of South Africa. A composite index of non-communicable diseases was generated from occurrence of different diseases. Data analysis involved descriptive statistics, hotspot analysis, spatial autocorrelation, geographically weighted regression, and binary logistic regression. The results showed 57% and 43% prevalence level of non-communicable diseases in urban and rural areas respectively. In addition, there existed spatial variations in the prevalence of non-communicable diseases across the 9 provinces and 52 districts with regard to rural/urban place of residence. The socioeconomic factors, which significantly increased the odds of NCDs in both rural and urban areas, were older ages, being a female, being married, divorced, separated or divorced, higher incomes, and being non-black. Conversely, higher educational attainment and engagement in physical exercise decreased the odds of NCDs in both rural and urban areas. This study recommends among other things, awareness/sensitization activities targeted more at the females, those aged 25 + years and people with higher education on the risk factors of NCDs.

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Acknowledgements

The authors gratefully acknowledge the National Institute for Humanities and the Social Sciences (NIHSS), South Africa for their Mobility Grant (BRICS/2018/12) awarded to Dr Chukwuedozie K. Ajaero as a Visiting Scholar for the African Pathway Programme Teaching and Research Mobility Grant for the Humanities and Social Sciences, under which this study was carried out. In addition, we are grateful to the Demography and Population Studies Programme, Schools of Public Health and Social Sciences, University of the Witwatersrand for availing us of their research facilities during this study.

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  1. Department of Geography, Faculty of the Social Sciences, University of Nigeria, Nsukka, Nigeria

    Chukwuedozie K. Ajaero

  2. Demography and Population Studies Programme, Schools of Public Health and Social Sciences, University of the Witwatersrand, Johannesburg, South Africa

    Chukwuedozie K. Ajaero, Nicole De Wet & Clifford O. Odimegwu

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Ajaero, C.K., De Wet, N. & Odimegwu, C.O. Integrating rural–urban differentials in the appraisal of prevalence and risk factors of non-communicable diseases in South Africa. GeoJournal 87, 829–843 (2022). https://doi.org/10.1007/s10708-020-10282-5

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