Health Care Disparities Among U.S. Women of Reproductive Age by Level of Psychological Distress

Abstract Background Majority of women of reproductive age in Low and Middle Income Countries (LMICs) are not able to access health services due to different factors. The main objective of this scoping review is to map the literature on access to healthcare information by women of reproductive age in LMICs. Methods The literature search was conducted through the following databases: Scholar, Science Direct, PubMed, EBSCOhost (Academic search complete, CINAHL with full text, MEDLINE with full text, MEDLINE, and PsycINFO), Emerald, Embase, published and peer reviewed journals, organizational projects, reference list, grey literature as well as reports related to this objective were included in the study. Studies reporting evidence on interventions aimed at enabling access to health care information in LMICs published during the period 2004 to until recent, were eligible for inclusion. Identified key words were used to search articles from the databases. Following title screening, two reviewers independently reviewed the abstracts and full articles. Inclusion and exclusion criteria was considered to guide the screening. Results A total of 451 900 articles were identified from all the databases searched. Of these, four articles meet inclusion criteria after full article screening and were included for data extraction. The included articles were conducted in the following countries: Eastern Uganda, Gauteng, South Africa, Myanmar and Nepal. The themes that emerged from our study are as follows: accessibility, financial accessibility/affordability, connectivity and challenges. This study demonstrated that, there are minimal interventions that enable women of reproductive age to access healthcare information in terms of accessibility, financial accessibility and connectivity. The study further revealed that with the minimal strategies tried, such as telemedicine and text messages, a large population of women could be reached and this strategies are less cost. Conclusion The findings of the study revealed poor access and utilization of maternal healthcare information by women of reproductive age. We therefore recommend primary studies in other LMICs to determine the accessibility, financial accessibility, connectivity and challenges faced by women of reproductive age in LMICs to reduce maternal and neonatal mortality rate and to achieve the Sustainable Development Goal 3.

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Deaths Due to Cancer Among Women of Reproductive Age in Bangladesh on the Rise: Findings From Two National Level Mortality and Health Care Survey

Journal of Global Oncology ◽

10.1200/jgo.18.89100 ◽

2018 ◽

Vol 4 (Supplement 2) ◽

pp. 220s-220s

Author(s):

S. Khan ◽

S. Arifeen ◽

N. Chakrobarty ◽

A.E. Rahman

Keyword(s):

Health Care ◽

Maternal Mortality ◽

Cause Of Death ◽

Action Plan ◽

National Level ◽

Reproductive Age ◽

Epidemiologic Transition ◽

Women Of Reproductive Age ◽

Health Care Survey ◽

Care Survey

Background: Bangladesh, a developing country from southeast Asia has the population of 160 million and currently ranks as being the 7th most populated country in the world. Like many other developing countries, Bangladesh is going through an epidemiologic transition, with significant reductions in mortality due to acute, infectious, and parasitic diseases and increases in noncommunicable, degenerative, and chronic diseases over the last 20 years. In this course, of transition, the deaths due to cancer is also on the rise. Among all adult deaths, cancer the third leading cause of death and accounts for one fifth of all mortality in Bangladesh. However, for women the proportions are even higher. Aim: This abstract looks into the datasets of 2 national surveys - Bangladesh maternal mortality and health care survey 2010 and 2016 - and assess the cause of death among women from reproductive age in Bangladesh. The 2010 survey covered over 150,000 households around Bangladesh, while the 2016 survey covered over 310,000 households from the whole of Bangladesh. Methods: Both the survey followed the same clustering process and sampling procedure, to ensure the compatibility among the surveys. Though the main objective of the survey was to look into the status of maternal mortality and corresponding health service seeking behavior, the surveys also shed lights on overall cause of death for women of reproductive age in Bangladesh. The death cases were assessed by verbal autopsy - using WHO process - and the cause of deaths were classified following ICD 10. The particular deaths due to cancer or neoplasm were separated from the main datasets and then it was looked by demographic information of the respondents. Results: The comparison between the national datasets reveals that, in 2010, 21% Bangladeshi women of reproductive age (15-49 years) were dying due to cancer, meaning 1 in 5 Bangladeshi women from reproductive age is dying due to cancer. However, in 2016 the proportion of death due to cancer raised up to 24% women of reproductive age (15-49 years), meaning 1 in 4 Bangladeshi women from reproductive age is dying due to cancer. Age segregated data shows that, only within this 6 years of timespan, more women from younger age (40-45 vs 50-55 years) are dying out of cancer. Conclusion: The findings of this comparison between the 2 national survey shows that, deaths due to cancer among women of reproductive age in Bangladesh is on the rise. Though Bangladesh has developed a National Cancer Control Strategy and Action Plan with the aim of delivering a universal, quality-based and timely service, the initiative are still boutique. A comprehensive preventive approach through tobacco control, health promotion and vaccination program, in addition to, early detection needs to be established with effective referral chain.

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Determinants of rural-urban differences in health care provider visits among women of reproductive age in the United States

PLoS ONE ◽

10.1371/journal.pone.0240700 ◽

2020 ◽

Vol 15 (12) ◽

pp. e0240700

Author(s):

Hyunjung Lee ◽

Ashley H. Hirai ◽

Ching-Ching Claire Lin ◽

John E. Snyder

Keyword(s):

Health Care ◽

Women’S Health ◽

Women's Health ◽

Health Care Providers ◽

Rural Women ◽

Reproductive Age ◽

County Level ◽

Care Providers ◽

Provider Type ◽

Women Of Reproductive Age

Background Rural health disparities and access gaps may contribute to higher maternal and infant morbidity and mortality. Understanding and addressing access barriers for specialty women’s health services is important in mitigating risks for adverse childbirth events. The objective of this study was to investigate rural-urban differences in health care access for women of reproductive age by examining differences in past-year provider visit rates by provider type, and quantifying the contributing factors to these findings. Methods and findings Using a nationally-representative sample of reproductive age women (n = 37,026) from the Medical Expenditure Panel Survey (2010–2015) linked to the Area Health Resource File, rural-urban differences in past-year office visit rates with health care providers were examined. Blinder-Oaxaca decomposition analysis quantified the portion of disparities explained by individual- and county-level sociodemographic and provider supply characteristics. Overall, there were no rural-urban differences in past-year visits with women’s health providers collectively (65.0% vs 62.4%), however differences were observed by provider type. Rural women had lower past-year obstetrician-gynecologist (OB-GYN) visit rates than urban women (23.3% vs. 26.6%), and higher visit rates with family medicine physicians (24.3% vs. 20.9%) and nurse practitioners/physician assistants (NPs/PAs) (24.6% vs. 16.1%). Lower OB-GYN availability in rural versus urban counties (6.1 vs. 13.7 providers/100,000 population) explained most of the rural disadvantage in OB-GYN visit rates (83.8%), and much of the higher family physician (80.9%) and NP/PA (50.1%) visit rates. Other individual- and county-level characteristics had smaller effects on rural-urban differences. Conclusion Although there were no overall rural-urban differences in past-year visit rates, the lower OB-GYN availability in rural areas appears to affect the types of health care providers seen by women. Whether rural women are receiving adequate specialized women’s health care services, while seeing a different cadre of providers, warrants further investigation and has particular relevance for women experiencing high-risk pregnancies and deliveries.

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Rural–Urban Differences in Health Care Access Among Women of Reproductive Age: A 10-Year Pooled Analysis

Annals of Internal Medicine ◽

10.7326/m19-3250 ◽

2020 ◽

Vol 173 (11_Supplement) ◽

pp. S55-S58 ◽

Cited By ~ 1

Author(s):

Hyunjung Lee ◽

Ching-Ching Claire Lin ◽

John E. Snyder

Keyword(s):

Health Care ◽

Health Care Access ◽

Pooled Analysis ◽

Reproductive Age ◽

Women Of Reproductive Age ◽

Care Access

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Are perceived barriers to accessing health care associated with inadequate antenatal care visits among women of reproductive age in Rwanda?

BMC Pregnancy and Childbirth ◽

10.1186/s12884-020-2775-8 ◽

2020 ◽

Vol 20 (1) ◽

Author(s):

Marie Paul Nisingizwe ◽

Germaine Tuyisenge ◽

Celestin Hategeka ◽

Mohammad Ehsanul Karim

Keyword(s):

Health Care ◽

Antenatal Care ◽

Perceived Barriers ◽

Reproductive Age ◽

Women Of Reproductive Age

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Development process of the preconception education booklet

International Journal of Research in Medical Sciences ◽

10.18203/2320-6012.ijrms20212350 ◽

2021 ◽

Author(s):

Siti Nurunniyah ◽

Detty Siti Nurdiati ◽

Madarina Julia ◽

Hamam Hadi

Keyword(s):

Health Care ◽

Focus Group ◽

Literature Review ◽

Health Care Workers ◽

Health Workers ◽

Reproductive Age ◽

Women Of Reproductive Age ◽

Response Test ◽

Expert Review ◽

Care Workers

Background: Healthy preconception is very essential to prepare for pregnancy, childbirth, and healthy babies. However, many women still lack of knowledge on having healthy preconceptions. Effective education requires relevant and standardized material and educational media. The objective of this study aimed to explain the process of developing a preconception education booklet.Methods: We have developed a preconception education booklet. The method to develop this booklet involved five main stages: literature review, interviews with preconception women and health care workers in primary health care, focus group discussions with the lecturer of midwifery, nutrition, and health promotion, expert review, and measure response test from women of reproductive age.Results: Our literature review has come out with a summary of the preconception educational materials consist of 15 topics that have been present. By using In-depth interviews, we observed and then developed materials that were required by women of reproductive age and health workers and they consisted of 10 topics. Our Focus Group Discussion has come out with the need to grouping the materials into 4 groups (pillars). We then validated our booklet material by using Expert review. Finally, our response test showed that 96% of respondents agree that booklet material is easy to understand, 90% of respondents agree that booklets are interesting to read, 93% of respondents agree that booklet material is relevant to their condition, 90% of respondents agree that the material in the booklet is the material it needs, 86% of respondents agree that the material in this booklet can help with their health problems, 80% of respondents agree that the choice of words in the booklet is easy to understand, 90% of respondents agree that the cover of the booklet is very interesting, 100 respondents agree that the font of the letters in the booklet is easy to read, 80% of respondents agreed that the illustrations relevant with the materials. Booklets were positively appreciated by 87% (26 out of 30 respondents) of reproductive-age women.Conclusions: Our preconception booklet can be used by health care workers to provide pregnancy preparation counselling for women of reproductive age.

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