Determinants of access to reproductive health care among currently married women in northern Nigeria.
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Date
2014
Authors
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Journal ISSN
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Publisher
Obafemi Awolowo University
Abstract
This study determined the level of access to reproductive health care services among women in Northern Nigeria; examined the influence of socio-economic factors (education, wealth index, employment and place of residence) on access to reproductive healthcare services; investigated the influence of gender-based violence (physical, sexual and emotional violence) on access to reproductive healthcare services; and determined the influence of social norms (preference for male child, preference for large family, religion and women’s autonomy over own wealth) on access to reproductive healthcare services. This was with the view of providing policy relevant information required to achieve universal access to reproductive healthcare services in Northern Nigeria.
The study utilized primary and secondary data. Primary data were obtained through in-depth interviews with sixty (60) purposively selected currently married women who have had at least one child in the last twelve months. The interviews were conducted in three randomly selected Northern States with one from each geo-political zone of the region (Benue, Kaduna, and Taraba States). Secondary data was extracted from the 2008 Nigeria Demographic and Health Survey (NDHS). The NDHS is a nationally representative sample survey that collected information on the demographic, socio-economic and health characteristics of men and women in the country. The 2008 NDHS remains the basic valid source of estimate of demographic and health characteristics in the country. The women dataset relates to 33,385 women sampled in the country. However, the sample size for this study was the 19,880 women sampled in the Northern region of the country. The secondary data was analysed using appropriate descriptive and inferential statistical tools. The primary data was analysed using content analysis.
Results show that: 87.1% of women in Northern Nigeria have access to reproductive healthcare services; educational attainment ( = 102, p<0.001); wealth index ( = 88.6, p<0.001); employment ( = 36.5, p=0.001); and place of residence ( = 56.0, p<0.005) are significantly associated with access to reproductive healthcare services, thus confirming that socio-economic characteristics are associated with access to reproductive healthcare services; physical violence ( = 0.1, p=0.8325); sexual violence ( = 0.4, p=0.6396); and emotional violence ( = 0.01, p=0.8598) were not significantly associated with access to reproductive healthcare services, indicating that gender-based violence was not associated with access to reproductive healthcare services. Results further show that religion ( = 102, p<0.001) and women’s autonomy over own healthcare ( = 66, p<0.001) are significantly associated with access to reproductive healthcare services.
The study provided additional evidence that access to reproductive healthcare services in Northern Nigeria, its utilisation is poor. The reason for its poor utilisation is probably attributable to low level of education in Northern Nigeria. The main barriers of access to reproductive healthcare services are lack of money and distance to health facilities. The study also confirmed that socio-economic factors and social norms cannot be ignored in any initiative to improve access and utilisation of reproductive healthcare services in the region. The study suggested that governments and other stakeholders in reproductive health in the country must become more proactive to achieve universal utilisation of reproductive healthcare services in Northern Nigeria.
Description
xii,104p
Keywords
Healthcare, Married women, Reproductive, Stakeholders, Employment, Reproductive healthcare, Reproductive healthcare services
Citation
Akinokun, A.K. (2014).Determinants of access to reproductive health care among currently married women in northern Nigeria. Obafemi Awolowo University