IDEAS home Printed from https://ideas.repec.org/a/eee/socmed/v375y2025ics0277953625004095.html
   My bibliography  Save this article

Provision of primary healthcare centers and women's healthcare-seeking behaviour: Evidence from Bangladesh

Author

Listed:
  • Uddin, Mohammad Riaz

Abstract

This study examines the association between the establishment of primary healthcare providers- community clinics (CCs)- and healthcare-seeking behavior in Bangladesh. Initiated in 1998, CCs aim to provide accessible healthcare services to remote households, particularly focusing on women and children. Using cluster-level data on healthcare provider availability alongside individual-level data from the Bangladesh Demographic and Health Survey (BDHS) for 2011, 2014, and 2017-18, the respective sample sizes are 17842, 17886, and 20127 ever-married women, the study offers robust estimates that address endogeneity concerns present in individual-level analyses. Lagged health indicators are utilized to consider contextual factors influencing CC establishment in specific regions. Results indicate positive associations between CC presence and various healthcare-seeking behaviors, such as increased contraceptive use, higher attendance at antenatal care visits, and improved treatment-seeking for children's illnesses. Notably, rural-urban disparities in healthcare-seeking behavior highlight existing access inequalities. To mitigate this divide, the study recommends expanding CCs nationwide, demonstrating that low-cost healthcare interventions can enhance healthcare-seeking behaviors and suggest potential scalability in similar contexts.

Suggested Citation

  • Uddin, Mohammad Riaz, 2025. "Provision of primary healthcare centers and women's healthcare-seeking behaviour: Evidence from Bangladesh," Social Science & Medicine, Elsevier, vol. 375(C).
    • Handle: RePEc:eee:socmed:v:375:y:2025:i:c:s0277953625004095
    DOI: 10.1016/j.socscimed.2025.118079
    as

    Download full text from publisher

    File URL: http://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0277953625004095
    Download Restriction: Full text for ScienceDirect subscribers only
    File URL: https://libkey.io/10.1016/j.socscimed.2025.118079?utm_source=ideas
    LibKey link: if access is restricted and if your library uses this service, LibKey will redirect you to where you can use your library subscription to access this item
    ---><---

    As the access to this document is restricted, you may want to search for a different version of it.

    Corrections

    All material on this site has been provided by the respective publishers and authors. You can help correct errors and omissions. When requesting a correction, please mention this item's handle: RePEc:eee:socmed:v:375:y:2025:i:c:s0277953625004095. See general information about how to correct material in RePEc.

    If you have authored this item and are not yet registered with RePEc, we encourage you to do it here. This allows to link your profile to this item. It also allows you to accept potential citations to this item that we are uncertain about.

    We have no bibliographic references for this item. You can help adding them by using this form .

    If you know of missing items citing this one, you can help us creating those links by adding the relevant references in the same way as above, for each refering item. If you are a registered author of this item, you may also want to check the "citations" tab in your RePEc Author Service profile, as there may be some citations waiting for confirmation.

    For technical questions regarding this item, or to correct its authors, title, abstract, bibliographic or download information, contact: Catherine Liu (email available below). General contact details of provider: http://www.elsevier.com/wps/find/journaldescription.cws_home/315/description#description .

    Please note that corrections may take a couple of weeks to filter through the various RePEc services.

    IDEAS is a RePEc service. RePEc uses bibliographic data supplied by the respective publishers.