Socioeconomic inequalities in post-natal health checks for the newborn in Vietnam

Abstract

Background The newborn and child death associated with inadequate post-natal health checks continued to be a significant issue across the world. This study aimed to assess the socioeconomic inequalities in post-natal health checks for the newborn in Vietnam in 2014. Methods We used the secondary data from the Multiple Indicator Cluster Survey in 2014. We included women aged 15–49 years who had a live birth within two years of the time of the interview. We estimated the concentration index to measure socioeconomic inequalities post-natal health checks for the newborn. We conducted multiple logistic regression analysis to identify factors associated with post-natal health checks for the newborn. Results Overall, the proportion of post-natal health checks for the newborn in Vietnam was 89.1%. The concentration index of post-natal health checks for the newborn was positive at 0.06. It indicated that the newborns in the rich households were more likely to get post-natal health checks as compared to in the poor households. The common factors significantly associated with the higher percentage of post-natal health checks for the newborn were women belonging to the Kinh and Hoa ethnic, higher education, and wealthier groups. Conclusion Socioeconomic inequalities in post-natal health checks for the newborn in Vietnam were not strong, but it still existed. Thus, we recommended that policy efforts to increase access to post-natal health services for poor women. In addition, there is a need to improve access to post-natal health services for women belonging to minor ethnic group and low education.

Sociodemographic Factors Associated with Request for Labor Epidural Analgesia in a Tertiary Obstetric Hospital in Vietnam

“…We always inform the prenatal women that while popular methods of pharmacological pain relief such as morphine are covered by the health insurance, epidural analgesia is not yet covered, since it has only been practiced in major hospitals in Vietnam for recent years. This partly results in socioeconomic inequalities in health care, which are already a problem in Vietnam [ 17 ]. Low-income and rural parturients in our study demanded epidural analgesia less than high-income and urban women since they are less likely to pay for this service.…”

Sociodemographic factors associated with request for labor epidural analgesia in a tertiary obstetric hospital in Vietnam

“…Socioeconomic inequality and its impact on in health care delivery has been described, (18)(19)(20)(21) and is a concern in Vietnam. (22) Under-utilization of labor epidural pain relief may not only serve as a marker for health care disparity but may also provide an outcome metric for targeted efforts to lower disparity. Vietnamese women may have a cultural perception that labor pain is natural, and a mindset that pain in childbirth should be tolerated rather than eliminated.…”

District division administrative disaggregation data framework for monitoring leaving no one behind in the National Health Insurance Fund of Sudan: achieving sustainable development goals in 2030

“…This WHO framework provides national information about equity regarding the utilization of essential health services between average coverage and full coverage and between rich and poor [39]. Research studies disaggregate the data based on gender [40,41], socioeconomic status [42][43][44][45][46], income [47][48][49], marital status [50], residence [51], ethnicity [52], and education [53,54]. This disaggregation facilitates the detection of inequity in health between advantaged and disadvantaged groups.…”