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Barriers and Facilitators to Accessing Health Care Services among Married Women in Ethiopia: a Multi-level Analysis of the Ethiopia Demographic and Health Survey
Authors: Betregiorgis Zegeye, Nicholas Kofi Adjei, Bright Opoku Ahinkorah, Edward Kwabena Ameyaw, Eugene Budu, Abdul-Aziz Seidu, Dina Idriss-Wheeler, Sanni Yaya
Source: International Journal of Translational Medical Research and Public Health, Volume 5, No.2; DOI:https://doi.org/10.21106/ijtmrph.380
Topic(s): Health care utilization
Health equity
Country: Africa
  Ethiopia
Published: OCT 2021
Abstract: Background and Objective: Access to health care services is a major challenge to women and children in many developing countries such as Ethiopia. In this study, we investigated the individual- and community-level factors associated with barriers to accessing health care services among married women in Ethiopia. Methods: Data from the 2016 Ethiopia demographic and health survey on 9,824 married women of reproductive age (15-49 years) were analyzed. Multilevel logistic regression models were used to assess individual- and community-level factors associated with barriers to access health care services. Regression analysis results revealed adjusted odds ratios at 95% confidence intervals. Results: Over two-thirds (71.8%) of married women in Ethiopia reported barriers to accessing health care services. Some of the individual-level factors that were associated with lower odds of reporting barriers to access health care services include: having secondary education (aOR=0.49, 95% CI: 0.32-0.77), being in the richest quintile (aOR=0.34, 95% CI: 0.22-0.54), and indicating wife-beating as unjustified (aOR=0.66, 95% CI:0.55-0.81). Among the community-level factors, high community-level literacy (aOR=0.56, 95% CI: 0.34-0.92) and moderate community socioeconomic status (aOR=0.62, 95% CI: 0.45-0.85) were significantly associated with lower odds of reporting barriers to access health care services. Conclusion and Implications for Translation: The findings revealed high barriers to access health care services, and both individual- and community-level factors were significant contributing predictors. Therefore, it is important to consider multidimensional strategies and interventions to facilitate access to health care services in Ethiopia.
Web: https://www.ijtmrph.org/index.php/IJTMRPH/article/view/380