Routine Healthcare Utilization Among Reproductive-Age Women Residing in a Rural Maternity Care Desert.

Publisher: Springer Country of Publication: Netherlands NLM ID: 7600747 Publication Model: Print Cited Medium: Internet ISSN: 1573-3610 (Electronic) Linking ISSN: 00945145 NLM ISO Abbreviation: J Community Health Subsets: MEDLINE

Publication: Amsterdam : Springer
Original Publication: New York, Human Sciences Press.

Social Support*; Health Services Accessibility/*statistics & numerical data ; Health Services Needs and Demand/*statistics & numerical data ; Maternal Health Services/*statistics & numerical data ; Rural Population/*statistics & numerical data; Adolescent ; Adult ; Cross-Sectional Studies ; Female ; Humans ; Middle Aged ; Ohio ; Patient Acceptance of Health Care/statistics & numerical data ; Pregnancy ; Socioeconomic Factors ; Surveys and Questionnaires ; United States ; Young Adult

It is important that women of reproductive age have access to and use routine health services to improve birth outcomes. While it is estimated that more than 5 million women in over 1000 counties across the United States live in maternity care deserts, to date there have been no published studies characterizing access and barriers to routine healthcare utilization in these areas. Therefore, a cross-sectional study was conducted in a rural county in northwest Ohio with 315 women ages 18-45 years. Health insurance coverage, usual source of care, length of time since routine check-up, and barriers to receipt of health services were assessed via a self-reported, anonymous survey. Over one-tenth (11.3%) of participants reported having no health insurance coverage. A total of 14.4% reported having no usual source of care and 22.8% reported not having a routine check-up in the past year. Just over one-half (53.0%) of participants reported having at least one barrier to accessing health care. In a logistic regression analysis, having a routine check-up in the past year was inversely associated with number of barriers (OR 0.73, 95% CI 0.56-0.95; p = 0.019); women who reported more barriers were less likely to report receipt of preventive care in the past year. The results of this study reveal that many reproductive-age women living in a maternity care desert face challenges in accessing health services. Policies and programs need to be developed and implemented to close these gaps and maximize opportunities for optimal health.

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Keywords: Access to care; Rural health; Women’s health

Date Created: 20200604 Date Completed: 20210628 Latest Revision: 20210628

20240829

10.1007/s10900-020-00852-6

32488525