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Women's (health) work: A population-based, cross-sectional study of gender differences in time spent seeking health care in Malawi

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  • Sara Yeatman
  • Stephanie Chamberlin
  • Kathryn Dovel

Abstract

Background: There has been a notable expansion in routine health care in sub-Saharan Africa. While heath care is nominally free in many contexts, the time required to access services reflects an opportunity cost that may be substantial and highly gendered, reflecting the gendered nature of health care guidelines and patterns of use. The time costs of health care use, however, have rarely been systematically assessed at the population-level. Methods: Data come from the 2015 wave of a population-based cohort study of young adults in southern Malawi during which 1,453 women and 407 men between the ages of 21 and 31 were interviewed. We calculated the time spent seeking health care over a two-month period, disaggregating findings by men, recently-pregnant women, mothers with children under two years old, and “other women”. We then extrapolated the time required for specific services to estimate the time that would be needed for each subpopulation to meet government recommendations for routine health services over the course of a year. Results: Approximately 60% of women and 22% of men attended at least one health care visit during the preceding two months. Women spent six times as long seeking care as did men (t = -4.414, p

Suggested Citation

  • Sara Yeatman & Stephanie Chamberlin & Kathryn Dovel, 2018. "Women's (health) work: A population-based, cross-sectional study of gender differences in time spent seeking health care in Malawi," PLOS ONE, Public Library of Science, vol. 13(12), pages 1-14, December.
    • Handle: RePEc:plo:pone00:0209586
    DOI: 10.1371/journal.pone.0209586
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    References listed on IDEAS

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