Research Article: Effect of women’s literacy status on maternal healthcare services utilisation in Ethiopia: a stratified analysis of the 2019 mini Ethiopian Demographic and Health Survey
Abstract:
Objectives Maternal mortality remains unacceptably high in sub-Saharan Africa with 533 maternal deaths per 100?000 live births, accounting for 68% of all maternal deaths worldwide. Most maternal deaths could be prevented by adequate maternal health service use. The study examined the effect of literacy status on maternal health services utilisation among reproductive-age women in Ethiopia. Design A cross-sectional study. Settings Ethiopia. Participants A weighted sample of 3839 reproductive-age women who gave birth in the last 5?years preceding the survey and whose literacy status was measured were included in this study. The survey used a two-stage stratified cluster sampling technique. Primary and secondary outcome measures This study used a dataset from the recent Ethiopia Mini Demographic and Health Surveys. We assessed the maternal health service utilisation among reproductive-age women. Multivariable logistic regression analyses were employed to assess the association between literacy status and maternal healthcare utilisation while controlling for other factors. Adjusted OR with a 95% CI was reported. Results About 63.8% of reproductive-age women were illiterate. The prevalence of antenatal care (ANC) 1, ANC 4, skilled birth attendance and postnatal care (PNC) services utilisation was 74.9%, 43.5%, 51.9% and 32.0%, respectively. Literate women had significantly higher ANC 1, ANC 4, skilled birth attendance, and PNC services utilisation than illiterate women (p<0.001). Regional variation, wealth status, age at first birth, birth order and birth intervals were significantly associated with maternal healthcare utilisation among both literate and illiterate women. Similarly, ANC booking timing and utilisation, age of household head and religious affiliation were associated with institutional delivery and PNC utilisation. Conclusion Literate women had a significantly higher maternal healthcare services utilisation than illiterate, modified by sociodemographic and obstetric-related factors. Hence, wholehearted efforts should be directed towards educating and empowering women.
Introduction:
Globally, maternal mortality declined by 38% from 2000 to 2017. Yet, over 800?women continue to die each day due to pregnancy and childbirth-related complications with the majority of deaths in low-income and middle-income countries. The Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) 3.1 sets out a goal to reduce the global maternal mortality ratio (MMR) to less than 70 per 100?000 live births, and not more than 140 per 100?000 live births in any country by 2030. 1 2 Given the current progress, the world will fall short of…
Read more