title: Determinants of maternal health care services utilization in Pakistan: evidence from Pakistan demographic and health survey, 2012-13.
abstract: The aim of this study was to determine the association between maternal utilisation of health-care services and socio-demographic factors among reproductive-age women in Pakistan. We used the sample of ever-married reproductive-age women (n = 7446) from the Pakistan Demographic and Health Survey (PDHS), 2012-13. We measured maternal utilisation of health-care services by using three dependent variables: number of antenatal care (ANC) visits, delivery assistance by a skilled health provider, and delivery in a health-care facility. Around 36.6% of women had made four or more ANC visits, 59% had received assistance from skilled health providers during delivery, and 55.3% had given birth in a health-care facility. On multivariable logistic regression, all three variables were positively associated with education and wealth, and negatively associated with birth order and women's autonomy. Policymakers and health planners may use our findings to develop efficient strategies, particularly for uneducated women and those with poor economic status, to improve the utilisation of maternal health-care services in Pakistan.
authors.affiliation: a Department of Public Health , Institute of Social and Cultural Studies, University of the Punjab , Pakistan.
authors.forename: Rubeena
authors.initials: R
authors.lastname: Zakar
authors.affiliation: a Department of Public Health , Institute of Social and Cultural Studies, University of the Punjab , Pakistan.
authors.forename: Muhammad Zakria
authors.initials: MZ
authors.lastname: Zakar
authors.affiliation: a Department of Public Health , Institute of Social and Cultural Studies, University of the Punjab , Pakistan.
authors.forename: Nauman
authors.initials: N
authors.lastname: Aqil
authors.affiliation: b Department of Community Medicine , Allama Iqbal Medical College , Lahore , Pakistan.
authors.forename: Ashraf
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Chaudhry
authors.affiliation: c Department of Public Health Medicine School of Public Health , Bielefeld University , Bielefeld , Germany.|d Rollins School of Public Health , Emory University , Atlanta , GA , USA.|e Injury Control Research Center West Virginia University , Morgantown , WV , USA.
authors.forename: Muazzam
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Nasrullah
mesh_terms: D000293:Adolescent; D000328:Adult; D000367:Age Factors; D036861:Delivery, Obstetric / Q000706:statistics & numerical data*; D005260:Female; D007722:Health Knowledge, Attitudes, Practice; D006297:Health Services Accessibility; D006306:Health Surveys; D006801:Humans; D008875:Middle Aged; D010154:Pakistan; D011247:Pregnancy; D011295:Prenatal Care / Q000706:statistics & numerical data*; D012959:Socioeconomic Factors; D016387:Women's Health; D055815:Young Adult
keywords: Maternal health care; Pakistan; antenatal care; demographic and health survey; facility-based delivery; skilled birth assistance