Gender role and child health care utilization in Nepal

Area of Science:

• Public Health
• Health Economics
• Sociology

Background:

• Child healthcare utilization is crucial for well-being.
• Understanding factors influencing healthcare seeking is essential for policy development.
• Gender roles can impact health outcomes and access to care.

Purpose of the Study:

• To investigate the role of gender in child healthcare utilization in Nepal.
• To analyze how gender influences different stages of the health-seeking process for children.

Main Methods:

• Analysis of 8112 child observations (age <=15 years) from the 1996 Nepal Living Standard Survey.
• Utilized discrete/continuous choice models to examine four health-seeking steps.
• Examined illness reporting, external care choice, provider selection, and expenditure decisions.

Main Results:

• No significant demographic, socio-economic, or geographic differences were found between boys and girls.
• Gender demonstrated a significant association with all four utilization decision steps.
• Being a boy showed a modest effect on illness reporting (p<0.10) and a stronger effect on external care choice, public provider selection, and private provider expenditure (p<0.05).

Conclusions:

• Gender roles significantly impact child healthcare utilization in Nepal.
• Gender influences not only the initial reporting of illness but also subsequent decisions regarding healthcare provider choice and expenditure.
• The findings underscore the comprehensive effect of gender on the entire health-seeking action pathway for sick children.