Understanding the relationship between access to care and facility-based delivery through analysis of the 2008 Ghana Demographic Health Survey

Moyer, C.A.; McLaren, Z.ë M.; Adanu, R.M.; Lantz, P.M.

International Journal of Gynaecology and Obstetrics the Official Organ of the International Federation of Gynaecology and Obstetrics 122(3): 224-229

2013


ISSN/ISBN: 1879-3479
PMID: 23800716
DOI: 10.1016/j.ijgo.2013.04.005
Document Number: 579074
To determine the types of access to care most strongly associated with facility-based delivery among women in Ghana. Data relating to the "5 As of Access" framework were extracted from the 2008 Ghana Demographic Health Survey and analyzed using multivariate logistic regression. In all, 55.5% of a weighted sample of 1102 women delivered in a healthcare facility, whereas 45.5% delivered at home. Affordability was the strongest access factor associated with delivery location, with health insurance coverage tripling the odds of facility delivery. Availability, accessibility (except urban residence), acceptability, and social access variables were not significant factors in the final models. Social access variables, including needing permission to seek healthcare and not being involved in decisions regarding healthcare, were associated with a reduced likelihood of facility-based delivery when examined individually. Multivariate analysis suggested that these variables reflected maternal literacy, health insurance coverage, and household wealth, all of which attenuated the effects of social access. Affordability was an important determinant of facility delivery in Ghana-even among women with health insurance-but social access variables had a mediating role.

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Understanding the relationship between access to care and facility-based delivery through analysis of the 2008 Ghana Demographic Health Survey