Aboagye Richard Gyan, Essuman Mainprice Akuoko, Salihu Tarif, Seidu Abdul-Aziz, Hagan John Elvis, Baiden Frank, Ahinkorah Bright Opoku
School of Population Health, University of New South Wales, Sydney, NSW 2052, Australia.
Department of Family and Community Health, Fred N. Binka School of Public Health, University of Health and Allied Sciences, Hohoe, Ghana.
Int Health. 2025 Sep 3;17(5):734-744. doi: 10.1093/inthealth/ihaf023.
Women's health is an essential component of the Sustainable Development Goals. We examined how women's empowerment influences barriers to healthcare access in sub-Saharan Africa.
The study included a weighted sample of 188 572 women's data from the Demographic and Health Surveys of 21 countries. A multilevel binary logistic regression analysis was used to examine the association between women's empowerment and barriers to accessing healthcare.
Women in the medium and high categories of attitude towards violence, social independence and autonomy were less likely to experience problems in getting permission to go for treatment. Women who had high attitudes towards violence were less likely to experience problems in getting money for treatment. Women with high social independence were less likely to face problems getting money for treatment. Women with high scores for attitudes towards violence, social independence and decision-making had the lowest likelihood of experiencing difficulty with distance to a health facility. Similarly, those in the high categories for attitude towards violence, social independence and decision-making had the lowest odds of experiencing problems not wanting to go alone.
Women's empowerment decreases the barriers to accessing healthcare in sub-Saharan Africa. Designing healthcare intervention programs for women should consider the contribution that women make to household decision-making, social independence and attitudes towards violence.
妇女健康是可持续发展目标的重要组成部分。我们研究了妇女赋权如何影响撒哈拉以南非洲地区获得医疗保健的障碍。
该研究纳入了来自21个国家人口与健康调查的188572名妇女数据的加权样本。采用多水平二元逻辑回归分析来研究妇女赋权与获得医疗保健障碍之间的关联。
对暴力、社会独立性和自主性态度处于中等和较高水平的妇女在获得治疗许可方面遇到问题的可能性较小。对暴力态度较高的妇女在筹集治疗费用方面遇到问题的可能性较小。社会独立性较高的妇女在筹集治疗费用方面面临问题的可能性较小。对暴力、社会独立性和决策态度得分较高的妇女在前往医疗机构的距离方面遇到困难的可能性最低。同样，对暴力、社会独立性和决策态度处于较高水平的妇女不想独自前往的问题发生率也最低。
妇女赋权减少了撒哈拉以南非洲地区获得医疗保健的障碍。为妇女设计医疗保健干预项目应考虑妇女对家庭决策、社会独立性和对暴力态度的贡献。
