The impact of multidimensional poverty on antenatal care service utilisation in Malawi.

IF 2.7 3区 经济学 Q1 ECONOMICS
Amanda Grace Chatata, Gowokani Chijere Chirwa
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Abstract

Background: Poverty remains a key barrier to accessing essential maternal health services, particularly in low- and middle-income countries like Malawi. Despite the recognised importance of antenatal care (ANC) in ensuring healthy pregnancies as well as improving maternal and child health outcomes, ANC services remain underutilised by many women living in poverty. This underutilisation is not solely driven by a lack of financial resources but also by a range of non-monetary factors that constitute multidimensional poverty, such as limited access to education, healthcare services, and infrastructure. While much of the existing literature focuses on monetary poverty, this study explores how multidimensional poverty impacts ANC utilisation. By examining how various deprivations intersect to limit access to ANC, this research contributes to understanding the broader issue of healthcare inequality.

Aim: We assess the impact of multidimensional poverty (non-monetary) on antenatal care use in Malawi.

Method: Multidimensional poverty was constructed using the Forster-Akire method of the Oxford Poverty and Human Initiative (OPHI). We use data from the 2015-16 Demographic Health Survey (DHS), which includes information on women aged 15-49 who gave birth within five years of the survey. To mitigate selection bias, we use Propensity Score Matching (PSM) techniques for our principal analysis.

Results: Our findings reveal that 52% of women adequately utilised ANC services. About 8,428 women were identified as multidimensionally poor, and 4,685 were classified as non-poor. The results of our PMS analysis show a significant negative relationship between ANC utilisation and multidimensional poverty (B = 0.52; P < 0.008), indicating that multidimensionally poor women are less likely to use ANC services. Similarly, the timing of ANC visits also showed a negative relationship with multidimensional poverty (B = 0.26; P < 0.04), highlighting that multidimensionally poor women are less likely to attend ANC visits within the recommended first trimester.

Conclusion: The findings suggest that there is a need for sustainable investments in poverty alleviation programs to address and reduce multidimensional poverty as well as raise awareness of sexual and reproductive health concerns among adolescents and women in Malawi to improve maternal health outcomes.

多维贫困对马拉维产前保健服务利用的影响。
背景:贫困仍然是获得基本孕产妇保健服务的主要障碍,特别是在马拉维等低收入和中等收入国家。尽管产前保健在确保健康怀孕和改善妇幼保健结果方面的重要性得到公认,但许多生活贫困的妇女仍然没有充分利用产前保健服务。造成这种利用不足的原因不仅是缺乏财政资源,还包括构成多维贫困的一系列非货币因素,例如获得教育、保健服务和基础设施的机会有限。虽然现有的许多文献都集中在货币贫困上,但本研究探讨了多维贫困如何影响非国大的利用。通过研究各种剥夺如何交叉限制获得ANC,本研究有助于理解更广泛的医疗不平等问题。目的:我们评估多维贫困(非货币)对马拉维产前保健使用的影响。方法:采用牛津贫困与人类倡议(OPHI)的foster - akire方法构建多维贫困。我们使用了2015-16年人口健康调查(DHS)的数据,其中包括调查后五年内生育的15-49岁妇女的信息。为了减轻选择偏差,我们使用倾向得分匹配(PSM)技术进行主分析。结果:我们的研究结果显示,52%的妇女充分利用了ANC服务。约有8428名妇女被认定为多维贫困,4685名妇女被认定为非贫困。我们的PMS分析结果显示,非农业生产利用与多维贫困之间存在显著的负相关关系(B = 0.52;P结论:研究结果表明,有必要对减贫方案进行可持续投资,以解决和减少多维贫困问题,并提高马拉维青少年和妇女对性健康和生殖健康问题的认识,以改善孕产妇健康结果。
本文章由计算机程序翻译,如有差异,请以英文原文为准。
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来源期刊
CiteScore
3.90
自引率
4.20%
发文量
59
审稿时长
13 weeks
期刊介绍: Health Economics Review is an international high-quality journal covering all fields of Health Economics. A broad range of theoretical contributions, empirical studies and analyses of health policy with a health economic focus will be considered for publication. Its scope includes macro- and microeconomics of health care financing, health insurance and reimbursement as well as health economic evaluation, health services research and health policy analysis. Further research topics are the individual and institutional aspects of health care management and the growing importance of health care in developing countries.
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