Water Insecurity and Gendered Risk for Depression in Rural Uganda: A Hotspot Analysis

Authors

Christine E. Cooper-Vince, Massachusetts General HospitalFollow
Hawk Arachy, Harvard University, Cambridge, USA
Bernard Kakuhikire, Mbarara University of Science and TechnologyFollow
Dagmar Vořechovská, Massachusetts General Hospital
Rumbidzai Mushavi, Harvard Medical School
C. Baguma, Mbarara University Science and TechnologyFollow
Amy Q. McDonough, Johns Hopkins University
David R. Bangsberg, Portland State UniversityFollow
Alexander C. Tsai, Harvard Medical SchoolFollow

Published In

BMC Public Health

Document Type

Article

Publication Date

2018

Subjects

Water security -- International cooperation, Water Resource Management

Abstract

Background:

Water insecurity is linked to depression in low- and middle-income countries (LMICs), though it remains unclear how geospatial clustering of water insecurity in rural regions is associated with risk for depression.

Methods: We conducted a population-based survey of a rural parish in southwestern Uganda (N = 1603) to evaluate the joint geospatial clustering of water insecurity and risk for depression among men and women living in rural Uganda.

Results:

Geospatial clustering of self-reported water insecurity and depressive symptoms was found to be present among both men and women. Depression hotspots were more often observed near water insecurity hotspots among women, relative to men. Multivariable regression revealed that residing in a water insecurity hotspot significantly increased risk for depressive symptoms among women, but not among men. Conclusions: Residing in a water insecurity hotspot is associated with greater risk for probable depression among women, but not among men, pointing to the need for focused depression screening among women residing in water insecure households. Keywords: Water insecurity, Depression, Geospatial, Gender, Sub-Saharan Africa

Description

© The Author(s). 2018

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Locate the Document

https://doi.org/10.1186/s12889-018-6043-z

DOI

10.1186/s12889-018-6043-z

Persistent Identifier

https://archives.pdx.edu/ds/psu/26303

Citation Details

Cooper-Vince, C. E., Arachy, H., Kakuhikire, B., Vořechovská, D., Mushavi, R. C., Baguma, C., ... & Tsai, A. C. (2018). Water insecurity and gendered risk for depression in rural Uganda: a hotspot analysis. BMC public health, 18(1), 1143.