Study Finds Link Between Poverty and Poor Health

New research from Kenyan economists and public health experts underscores a clear and worrying connection between poverty and poor health outcomes. A study by Musyoka et al. (2018) using national survey data found that higher poverty levels are significantly associated with lower utilization of healthcare services — meaning poorer households are less likely to seek medical care when they fall ill. In particular, the study used statistical methods to show that as poverty decreases, health‑care use increases, even after controlling for other factors such as distance to facilities, household size, and education. I
Another analysis examined how poverty influences self-reported health status: using data from the 2013 Kenya Household Expenditure and Utilization Survey, researchers applied ordered‑probit models and found that reducing poverty raises the likelihood of people reporting very good health and lowers the probability of reporting poor health.In other words, poverty doesn’t just limit access to care — it also takes a toll on how healthy people feel.
The inequities go deeper. A cross‑sectional study published in the International Journal for Equity in Health highlighted that the poorest Kenyans are much less likely to use modern health-care services. The research shows that people in lower socio-economic groups more often rely on traditional healers, or they simply forgo care because of cost or distance.
Moreover, out-of-pocket health spending is driving many families further into poverty. One study found that the poorest households in Kenya spend up to one third of their budget on health care, compared to just 8% for the wealthiest.These catastrophic expenditures push many into financial distress or force them to sell assets — reinforcing a poverty‑illness cycle that makes it harder for them to escape poverty.