What Factors Influences Utilization of Healthcare Services among Adolescent Girls in Urban Slums - Findings from Jaipur City, India

Rajnish Prasad, IIHMR University
Shrutka Badgujar, Independent researcher

This study aimed to determine the factors associated with healthcare service utilization among adolescent girls in urban slums in Jaipur, India. A cross-sectional study of 417 adolescent girls was conducted. The findings show that only 48.2% of girls with health problems visited healthcare facilities for treatment. 68.6% delayed treatment by three or more days after the onset of symptoms, and 85.6% first tried remedies available at home. Girl’s education (AOR= 2.7; 95% CI=0.65-8.57), mother’s education (AOR= 3.43; 95% CI=1.2-9.96), father’s income (AOR=2.2; 95% CI=0.76-5.32), mother’s income (AOR= 3.67; 95% CI=1.03-11.18), and counselling by field health workers (AOR= 3.23; 95% CI=1.18-7.89) were factors significantly associated with utilization of health services. Girls cited parental neglect of their health, insufficient funds, lack of privacy, and inconvenient assessment times at health facilities as major barriers. The findings from the study shows that the utilization of facility-based health services among adolescent girls is low, and there is a significant postponement in visiting health facilities after the onset of symptoms. There is a need to create community-level awareness, improve outreach by field health workers, and ensure privacy in healthcare facilities, to improve facility-based health service utilization among adolescent girls.

Keywords: Children, Adolescents, and Youth, Health and Morbidity, Sexual and Reproductive Health and Rights

See paper.