Spatial heterogeneity of malaria in Ghana: a cross-sectional study on the association between urbanicity and the acquisition of immunity

Table 1 Algorithm used to assess the level of urbanicity

Components	Variables	Score-points	Variation
Population size	Population	0–10	214–72,105
Economic activity	Proportion of employed people in the non-agricultural sector	0–10	11.5–98.1 %
Education	Availability of primary school	0/2
	Availability of junior high school	0/2
	Availability of senior high school	0/2
	Proportion of literate people	0–2 (0.5)	61.2–93.3 %
	Proportion of people with postgraduate education	0–2 (0.5)	0.5–18.9 %
Health services	Availability of a clinic^a	0/5
Health services	Availability of a hospital^a	0/5
Transportation	Road condition^a	0/5
Transportation	Frequency of public transport^a	0/5
Services	Availability of post office^a	0/2.5
	Availability of petrol station^a	0/2.5
	Availability of bank^a	0/2.5
	Proportion of households connected to waste collection system	0–2.5 (1.25)	0–39 %
Sanitation	Proportion of households with tap water	0–5 (2.5)	0–64.7 %
Sanitation	Proportion of households with a flush toilet	0–5 (1.25)	0–70.9 %
Housing	Proportion of households with electric light	0–2 (0.5)	37.2–96.6 %
	Proportion of households with a concrete roof	0–2 (1)	0–9.8 %
	Proportion of households with concrete walls	0–2 (0.5)	2.3–98.4 %
	Proportion of households with a concrete floor	0–2 (0.5)	1.9–100 %
	Proportion of rented dwellings	0–2 (0.5)	0–70.1 %

Linear variables were categorized and received score points depending on their quantiles, graduation in brackets
^aData collected via systematic interviews by the study team in 2012, other variables were retrieved from the Ghana statistical service and were collected during the 2010 National Census

ISSN: 1475-2875