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Care‐seeking behavior of women with reproductive health problems from low‐income areas of Beirut
Author(s) -
ElKak Faysal,
Khawaja Marwan,
Salem Myelene,
Zurayk Huda
Publication year - 2009
Publication title -
international journal of gynecology and obstetrics
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 0.895
H-Index - 97
eISSN - 1879-3479
pISSN - 0020-7292
DOI - 10.1016/j.ijgo.2008.09.006
Subject(s) - medicine , residence , logistic regression , reproductive health , health care , public health , environmental health , gerontology , demography , family medicine , population , nursing , economic growth , sociology , economics
Abstract Objective To examine the patterns of care‐seeking behavior and provider choice of women with self‐reported reproductive health problems from 3 urban communities in Beirut. Methods The study was based on a sample of 1869 completed questionnaires from 2051 eligible women (married or had been married, and between 15 and 59 years) obtained during the Urban Health Survey. Associations between community of residence, other background characteristics, and two outcome measures (health care usage and choice of provider) were assessed using logistic regression. Results Of the 1869 women assessed, 439 (23.5%) reported reproductive health problems; of these, 273 (62%) women sought care for their problems, with the majority (52.5%) using private providers. Younger age, health insurance, and severity and duration of problems were associated with use. Women with higher parity and those with financial problems were significantly more likely to use public and subsidized services. Conclusion The private health sector needs to be more involved in planning, implementing, and offering reproductive health care in low‐income communities.