Abstract:
Objective This study was conducted to estimate the
prevalence of disability and associated factors and further
quantify the associated sex differential among Ghana’s
workforce aged 15+ years.
Design A nationally stratified cross-sectional study.
Setting Ghana.
Participants Individuals aged 15 years and above.
Outcome measure Disability that limits full participation
in life activities.
Methods Three predictive models involving Poisson,
logistic and probit regression were performed to assess
the association between disability and covariates. Modified
Poisson multivariate decomposition analysis method was
employed to assess sex differential and associated factors
using Stata V.16.
Results The prevalence of disability was 2.1% (95% CI
1.2 to 2.4), and the risk of disability among males was
approximately twice compared with females (Poisson
estimate: adjusted prevalence ratio (95% CI)=1.94
(1.46 to 2.57); logistic estimate: aOR (95%CI)=2.32
(1.73 to 3.12)). Male sex increased the log odds of
disability by 0.37 (probit estimate, aβ (95%CI)=0.37
(0.23 to 0.50)). The variability in age group, marital
status, household (HH) size, region, place of residence,
relationship to HH head, hours of work per week and
asset-based wealth were significantly associated with
disability-based sex differential. (Significant increased
endowment: β×10−3 (95% CI×10−3)=−37.48 (−56.81 to
−18.16) and significant decreased coefficient: β×10−3
(95% CI×10−3)=42.31 (21.11 to 63.49).) All disability
participants were challenged with activities of daily living,
limiting them in full participation in life activities such as
mobility, work and social life.
Conclusion The magnitude of experiencing disability
among working males was nearly twice that of females.
Sex differentials were significantly associated with age
groups, marital status, HH size, region of residence,
relationship to HH head, hours of work per week and
wealth. Our findings amass the provisional needs of
persons living with a disability that are indicators to
consider to achieve the United Nations Convention on the
Rights of Persons with Disabilities Article 10. In addition,
formulation of workplace policies should adopt a gender sensitive approach to reduce disparities and eliminate
disability in the target population.
