Table 1 Variables used in the analyses
Type of variable | Original measurement | Used in the analysis | Other information |
|---|---|---|---|
Outcome variable | |||
Self-rated health (SRH) | Question “in general, how do you describe your overall health?” were on a 5-point scale: excellent/good/normal/bad/very bad | Grouped into three categories: excellent (excellent and good), normal, and poor (bad and very bad) | |
Individual-level variables | |||
Socio-demographic | |||
Age | Years | ||
Marital Status | Four levels: Single, Married, divorced, widowed | Binary: never married (single) and ever married (including married, widowed and divorced) | |
Individual level socio-economic status | |||
Education level | Illiterate | Categorised as: illiterate, <=9 years of education and >9 years of education | Nine years signifies compulsory basic education in Syria |
Total school years finished | |||
Employment | Student or full-time house wife (economically inactive), employee (government or other) and employer (private business or self-employed professional) | ||
Car ownership | Private ownership of a car was included as a binary variable, either yes or no | ||
Item ownership | Binary (yes=1, no=0) for 6 items: a telephone, a mobile phone, a personal computer, an air conditioner, a television and a satellite dish | Numerical variable: summed responses to questions on the ownership of six items (yes=1, no=0) to create a numerical variable ranging from zero (no items) to six | |
Household crowding | Number of people living in the house | Divided the number of people living in the house by the number of rooms | |
Number of rooms in the house | |||
Health and Health behaviours | |||
Body Mass Index (BMI) | Weight in kilograms divided by the square of the height in meters (kg/m2). | ||
Level of physical activity | “Do you practice sport regularly?” | ||
Smoking status | “Do you smoke cigarettes daily, occasionally or not at all” | Binary: currently smoking (daily or occasionally) or not currently smoking at all | |
Social support | “Do you have someone who supports you when needed?“ (yes, no) | ||
“Do you have someone to share happiness and sorrow with? (yes, no) | |||
Perception of the neighbourhood | |||
Annoyance of outdoor air pollution | “How much are you annoyed by outdoor air pollution if you keep the windows open?” (Not at all, somehow, much, very) | ||
Annoyance of outdoor air pollution and noise | “How much are you annoyed by outdoor noise if you keep the windows open?” (Not at all, somehow, much, very) | ||
Neighbourhood-level variables | |||
Neighbourhood level SES | |||
Percent illiterate | Individual level variables SES from the survey data were aggregated to the neighbourhood level | ||
Percent unemployed | |||
Average number of items owned | |||
Percent with high density housing | |||
Percent with no car | |||
Formality Formal/Informal | These zones were non-overlapping with the formal zone occupying the west of Aleppo and the informal zone spreading out along the northern, eastern and southern borders of the formal zone. Formality was included as a binary fixed effect variable in the analysis with “formal” being the reference category | ||