Socioeconomic determinants of use of reproductive health services in Ghana

Gordon Abekah-Nkrumah () and Patience Aseweh Abor ()
Additional contact information
Gordon Abekah-Nkrumah: University of Ghana Business School
Patience Aseweh Abor: University of Ghana Business School

Health Economics Review, 2016, vol. 6, issue 1, 1-15

Abstract: Abstract Background The study examines trends in the consumption of reproductive health services (use of modern contraceptives, health facility deliveries, assisted deliveries, first trimester antenatal visit and 4+ antenatal visits) and their determinants using four rounds of Ghana Demographic and Health Surveys (1993, 1998, 2003 and 2008) data. Methods The study uses cross-sectional and pooled probit and negative bionomial regressions models to estimate the determinants of use of the above listed reproductive health services for the period from 1993 to 2008. Results Summary statistics suggest that the above-listed reproductive health services have consistently improved from 1993 to 2008. However, use of traditional methods of contraception increased in urban centers between 2003 and 2008, although the reverse was the case in rural areas. Regression results suggest that place of residence, access to and availability of health services, religion, and birth order are significant correlates of use of reproductive health services. Additionally, the study suggests that the number of living children has the largest effect on use of modern contraception. The effect of a partner’s education on use of modern contraception is higher than that of the woman, and a much stronger correlation exists between household wealth and use of reproductive health inputs than expected. Conclusion The study associates the increasing use of traditional contraceptives in urban centers and the much stronger effect of household wealth with urban poverty and the increasing indirect cost of health services, and argues for interventions to improve quality of service in public facilities and reduce inequities in the distribution of health facilities. Finally, the study advocates for family planning-related interventions that involve and target partners given the importance of partner education in the use of modern contraception.

Keywords: Socioeconomic; Determinants; Reproductive Health (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2016
References: View references in EconPapers View complete reference list from CitEc
Citations: View citations in EconPapers (2)

Downloads: (external link)
http://link.springer.com/10.1186/s13561-016-0085-7 Abstract (text/html)

Related works:
This item may be available elsewhere in EconPapers: Search for items with the same title.

Export reference: BibTeX RIS (EndNote, ProCite, RefMan) HTML/Text

Persistent link: https://EconPapers.repec.org/RePEc:spr:hecrev:v:6:y:2016:i:1:d:10.1186_s13561-016-0085-7

Ordering information: This journal article can be ordered from
http://www.springer.com/journal/13561

DOI: 10.1186/s13561-016-0085-7

Access Statistics for this article

Health Economics Review is currently edited by J. Matthias Graf von der Schulenburg

More articles in Health Economics Review from Springer
Bibliographic data for series maintained by Sonal Shukla () and Springer Nature Abstracting and Indexing ().