Factors Influencing Antenatal Care Services Utilization in Empowered Action Group (EAG) States, India: A Spatial and Multilevel Analysis
The study investigated individual-household, community and district level factors associated with antenatal care services utilization in Empowered Action Group states, India. Nationally-representative data, drawn from the District Level Household Survey (2007-08), were used. A sample of 116,973 currently married women, aged 15-49 years, who delivered a child during the three years preceding the survey was considered for analysis. Both descriptive and multivariate analysis were used to analyze the data generated and level of significance was set at 5% (0.05). The findings revealed that household socio-economic status and mother’s education were the most important factors associated with antenatal care services utilization. The adjusted model showed that the place of residence, community education, community impoverishment were significantly associated with antenatal care services utilization. Spatial analysis finding revealed that districts with higher urban percentage and higher proportion of antenatal care services utilization were clustered together and low-urban percentage-low proportion in the space.
