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Changing health-seeking behaviour in Matlab, Bangladesh: do development interventions matter?
Syed Masud Ahmed1, Alayne M Adams, Mushtaque Chowdhury
1Division of Internal Health, Department of Public Health Sciences, Karolinska Instute, Stockholm, Sweden. ahmed.sm@brac.net
Health Policy and Planning
|August 15, 2003
Summary
Socioeconomic development in Matlab, Bangladesh, did not increase use of qualified medical care. Instead, self-treatment and reliance on informal providers rose, influenced by a flood and community health workers.
Area of Science:
- Public Health
- Health Economics
- Sociology of Health
Background:
- Socioeconomic development is often assumed to improve health-seeking behaviors and access to quality care.
- This study examines health-seeking patterns in Matlab, Bangladesh, following integrated development interventions.
Purpose of the Study:
- To investigate the impact of socioeconomic development on gender equity in care-seeking.
- To assess changes in the utilization of qualified versus unqualified healthcare providers over time.
Main Methods:
- Utilized cross-sectional data from surveys in 1995 and 1999.
- Employed logistic regression to identify factors influencing healthcare choices.
Main Results:
- No significant increase in preference for qualified medical care observed.
- A notable rise in self-treatment and reliance on informal providers (over 20%) occurred.
- Self-care linked to female gender, short illness duration, and lack of low-cost services; medical care linked to male gender, higher socioeconomic status, and serious, long-duration illness.
Conclusions:
- Development interventions showed tentative evidence of greater gender equity but did not enhance preference for qualified care.
- Increased self-treatment attributed to flood repercussions and health awareness from community health workers.
- Recommendations include enhancing local capacity for self-treatment decisions and provider evaluation, plus pharmaceutical training for all providers.