Factors associated with access to maternal and reproductive health care among Somali refugee women resettled in Ohio, United States: a cross-sectional survey

Banke-Thomas, Aduragbemi ORCID: 0000-0002-4449-0131, Agbemenu, Kafuli and Johnson-Agbakwu, Crista (2018) Factors associated with access to maternal and reproductive health care among Somali refugee women resettled in Ohio, United States: a cross-sectional survey. Journal of Immigrant and Minority Health. pp. 1-8. ISSN 1557-1912

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Abstract

This study examined maternal and reproductive health (MRH) access of Somali refugees in the U.S. across four access dimensions (willingness to seek care, gaining entry to the health system, seeing a primary provider and seeing a specialist). We conducted a cross-sectional survey of 427 Somali refugee reproductive-age women in Franklin County, Ohio. Following descriptive statistics of demographics, we conducted multivariate analyses to test associations between demographics and the four access dimensions. Most Somali refugee women were married (68%), attained primary education (92%), employed (64%) and were circumcised (82%). Young (OR 2.61, 95% CI 1.25–5.60), single (OR 1.78, 95% CI 1.15–2.78), and minors upon arrival (OR 2.36, 95% CI 1.44–3.90) were more willing to seek care. Lack of insurance, limited language fluency and being circumcised limited access to care across all dimensions. Barriers to access need to be systematically addressed. Deconstructing beliefs regarding health systems may improve access, especially among older Somali women.

Item Type:	Article
Official URL:	https://link.springer.com/journal/10903
Additional Information:	© 2018 Springer
Divisions:	Health Policy
Subjects:	R Medicine > RA Public aspects of medicine
Date Deposited:	16 Oct 2018 13:46
Last Modified:	30 Nov 2024 19:48
URI:	http://eprints.lse.ac.uk/id/eprint/90432

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