Skip to main page content
U.S. flag

An official website of the United States government

Dot gov

The .gov means it’s official.
Federal government websites often end in .gov or .mil. Before sharing sensitive information, make sure you’re on a federal government site.

Https

The site is secure.
The https:// ensures that you are connecting to the official website and that any information you provide is encrypted and transmitted securely.

Access keys NCBI Homepage MyNCBI Homepage Main Content Main Navigation
. 2015 Aug 5:14:62.
doi: 10.1186/s12939-015-0194-7.

Microcredit participation and women's health: results from a cross-sectional study in Peru

Rita Hamad  1 , Lia C H Fernald  2
Affiliations

Microcredit participation and women's health: results from a cross-sectional study in Peru

Rita Hamad et al. Int J Equity Health. .

Abstract

Introduction: Social and economic conditions are powerful determinants of women's health status. Microcredit, which involves the provision of small loans to low-income women in the hopes of improving their living conditions, is an increasingly popular intervention to improve women's socioeconomic status. Studies examining the health effects of microcredit programs have had mixed results.

Methods: We conduct a cross-sectional study among female clients of a non-profit microcredit program in Peru (N = 1,593). The predictor variable is length of microcredit participation. We conduct bivariate and multivariate linear regressions to examine the associations between length of microcredit participation and a variety of measures of women's health. We control for participants' sociodemographic characteristics.

Results: We find that longer participation is associated with decreased depressive symptoms, increased social support, and increased perceived control, but these differences are attenuated with the inclusion of covariates. We find no association between length of participation and contraception use, cancer screening, or self-reported days sick.

Conclusions: These results demonstrate a positive association between length of microcredit participation and measures of women's psychological health, but not physical health. These findings contribute to the discussion on the potential of microcredit programs to address the socioeconomic determinants of health, and suggest that addressing socioeconomic status may be a key way to improve women's health worldwide.

PubMed Disclaimer

Figures

Fig. 1
Fig. 1
Sample framework
Fig. 2
Fig. 2
Distribution of number of loan cycles
See this image and copyright information in PMC

Similar articles

See all similar articles

Cited by

See all "Cited by" articles

References

    1. Ahmed S, Creanga AA, Gillespie DG, Tsui AO. Economic status, education and empowerment: implications for maternal health service utilization in developing countries. PLoS One. 2010;5:e11190. doi: 10.1371/journal.pone.0011190. - DOI - PMC - PubMed
    1. Nene B, Jayant K, Arrossi S, Shastri S, Budukh A, Hingmire S, et al. Determinants of women's participation in cervical cancer screening trial, Maharashtra, India. Bull World Health Organ. 2007;85:264–72. - PMC - PubMed
    1. Marmot M, Friel S, Bell R, Houweling TAJ, Taylor S. Closing the gap in a generation: health equity through action on the social determinants of health. The Lancet. 2008;372:1661–1669. doi: 10.1016/S0140-6736(08)61690-6. - DOI - PubMed
    1. Leatherman S, Metcalfe M, Geissler K, Dunford C. Integrating microfinance and health strategies: examining the evidence to inform policy and practice. Health Policy Plan. 2012;27:85–101. doi: 10.1093/heapol/czr014. - DOI - PubMed
    1. Reed L. State of the Microcredit Summit Campaign Report. Washington: Microcredit Summit Campaign; 2011.

Publication types