Description
Introduction:
Evidence shows that utilization of health services among young women migrants in India is quite low however, studies on factors related to utilization of health services, among young women migrants, are very few. Some studies, which have been done on young women migrants, are primarily focused on assessing the nutritional status and menstrual hygiene. Hence, a study was undertaken to understand the factors associated with healthcare service utilization among young women migrants in urban areas of Indore, India.
Methodology: A cross-sectional study among 392 young women migrants (15-24 years) was conducted. Descriptive statistics, chi-square, and bivariate and multivariate logistic regression were used to analyze the data and determine the factors associated with healthcare service utilization.
Findings: A total of 241 respondents (61.4%) were between the ages of 20-24 years, and the remaining 151 girls (38.6%) were between the ages of 15-19 years. 73.6% of respondents belonged to backward communities, and girls from general communities constituted 26.4% of the total respondents. 82.7% young women migrated from within the state and 17.3% were from other states. Around a quarter of the total respondents (31.2%) studied till class 5th, more than half (57.3%) studied from class 6th till 10th and only 11.5% girls studied higher. The majority of the respondents (67.2%) were unmarried.
71.6% respondents have health problem in last six months however only 46.2% of young women migrants with health problems visited healthcare facilities for treatment. 69.6% delayed treatment by three or more days after the onset of symptoms, and 85.2% first tried remedies available at home. Young women migrant’s education (AOR= 1.9; 95% CI=0.53-6.21), their income (AOR=2.8; 95% CI=0.82-7.63), mother’s education (AOR= 1.37; 95% CI=0.48-5.18), mother’s income (AOR= 1.62; 95% CI=0.37-7.35), and counselling by field health workers (AOR= 3.13; 95% CI=1.28-8.39) were factors significantly associated with utilization of health services. Young women migrants cite lack of awareness about health services, associated cost, lack of privacy, and inconvenient timing of health facilities as major barriers.
Conclusion – The findings from the study shows that the utilization of facility-based health services among young women migrants is low, and there is a significant postponement in visiting health facilities after the onset of symptoms. There is a need to create awareness young women migrants about health services at destination places and link them convenient health facilities, improve outreach by field health workers, and ensure privacy in healthcare facilities, to improve facility-based health service utilization among young women migrants.
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