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. 2023 Jul 4;15(4):428-434.
doi: 10.1093/inthealth/ihac063.

Distance-quality trade-off and choice of family planning provider in urban Pakistan

Imtiaz Hussain  1 , Sidrah Nausheen  2 , Arjumand Rizvi  1 , Uzair Ansari  1 , Mir Baz  1 , Kaneez Zehra  1 , Sahar Yameen  1 , Kristy Hackett  3 , Zohra Lassi  1 , David Canning  3 , Iqbal Shah  3 , Sajid Bashir Soofi  1   4
Affiliations

Distance-quality trade-off and choice of family planning provider in urban Pakistan

Imtiaz Hussain et al. Int Health. .

Abstract

Background: There is limited evidence between contraceptive use, availability of commodities and distance to the facility in developing countries. Distance to the facility is an essential determinant of contraceptive use. Still, women may not seek family planning services from the nearest facility and may be prepared to travel the farthest distance to receive quality family planning services.

Methods: We analyzed women's survey data linked to health facility data and applied an alternate specific conditional logit model to examine the distance a woman is prepared to travel and the quality of services offered by facilities in urban areas in Karachi, Pakistan.

Results: This study analyzed data from 336 women and 28 facilities and identified that the mean distance to the nearest facility was 0.44 km; the chosen facility was, on average, 5 km away. Women preferred facilities that offered a range of contraceptive methods and additional services provided by female healthcare providers only. Furthermore, on average, women are willing to travel a further 1.7 km for a facility that offers more family planning methods, 1.4 km for a facility that offers additional health services and 11 km for a facility that offers services delivered by female healthcare providers.

Conclusions: The findings highlight the quality measures women prioritize over distance and consider essential when choosing a family planning facility.

Keywords: cross-sectional survey; distance of facility; family planning; quality of services; urban Pakistan.

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Conflict of interest statement

The authors do not have any competing interests.

Figures

Figure 1.
Figure 1.
Distribution of women and health facilities in the study area.
Figure 2.
Figure 2.
Percentages of family planning methods provided at health facilities of urban Karachi (n=28).
See this image and copyright information in PMC

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