Exploring the association between multidimensional poverty and antenatal care utilization in two provinces of Papua New Guinea: a cross-sectional study.
Int J Equity Health
; 23(1): 176, 2024 Sep 02.
Article
em En
| MEDLINE
| ID: mdl-39223487
ABSTRACT
BACKGROUND:
Although global poverty rates have declined in the last decade, the fall in the Asia-Pacific region has been slow relative to the rest of the world. Poverty continues to be a major cause of poor maternal and newborn health, and a barrier to accessing timely antenatal care. Papua New Guinea has one of the highest poverty rates and some of the worst maternal and neonatal outcomes in the Asia-Pacific region. Few studies have investigated equity in antenatal care utilization in this setting. We explored equity in antenatal care utilization and the determinants of service utilization, which include a measure of multidimensional poverty in Papua New Guinea.METHODS:
To explore the association between poverty and antenatal care utilization this study uses data from a ten-cluster randomized controlled trial. The poverty headcount, average poverty gap, adjusted poverty headcount, and multidimensional poverty index of antenatal clinic attendees are derived using the Alkire-Foster method. The distribution of service utilization is explored using the multidimensional poverty index, followed by multivariate regression analyses to evaluate the determinants of service utilization.RESULTS:
The poverty headcount was 61.06%, the average poverty gap 47.71%, the adjusted poverty headcount 29.13% and the average multidimensional poverty index was 0.363. Further, antenatal care utilization was regressive with respect to poverty. The regression analyses indicated that older women; being a widow (small number of widows (n = 3) asserts interpreting result with caution); or formally employed increase the likelihood of accessing antenatal care more often in pregnancy. Travelling for over an hour to receive care was negatively associated with utilization.CONCLUSION:
This study indicated high levels of multidimensional poverty in PNG and that ANC utilization was regressive; highlighting the need to encourage pregnant women, especially those who are economically more vulnerable to visit clinics regularly throughout pregnancy.
Texto completo:
1
Coleções:
01-internacional
Base de dados:
MEDLINE
Assunto principal:
Pobreza
/
Cuidado Pré-Natal
Limite:
Adolescent
/
Adult
/
Female
/
Humans
/
Pregnancy
Idioma:
En
Ano de publicação:
2024
Tipo de documento:
Article