Observational studyBMC health services research2017
Access to health care for persons with disabilities in rural South Africa.
Observational study in BMC health services research, 2017. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 60 papers, 1 of them a synthesis that pooled it.
What it found
Each row is one number read from the abstract, on the scale the paper reported it, with its interval. Left of the dashed line favours the treatment, right favours the comparator. Under each row is the sentence it came from. New to these charts? A ten-minute tutorial.
The abstract states no effect estimate the extractor could read, or names no intervention and outcome on the map, so this paper lights no cell and moves no belief. It is still indexed, cited and linked below.
The trial behind it
Trials whose registry record cites this paper, or whose number appears in the abstract. A trial that started after this paper was published is citing it as background, not reporting it.
Neither the registry nor the abstract names a trial number. If this is a trial report, that itself is worth knowing.
Who cites it
60 citing papers in PubMed, 1 synthesis or guideline pooled it, 126 citations in OpenAlex.
- Pooled it
- Strengthening parental capabilities: Consensus-based guidelines for supporting parents of children with developmental disabilities - A modified hybrid Delphi study.South African family practice : official journal of the South African Academy of Family Practice/Primary Care · 2026Article
- Socioeconomic inequalities in disability among older adults in urban and rural Indonesia: a population-based study.BMC public health · 2026Article
- Barriers to accessing cancer care services in Eastern Cape and Mpumalanga provinces of South Africa: cancer survivors' perspectives.BMC cancer · 2026Article
- Monitoring and evaluation of health disparities for people with disability in low- and middle-income countries: a scoping review.Epidemiologic reviews · 2026Article
- Access to primary health care among persons with disabilities in three selected districts of Zambia: determinants and experiences during the COVID-19 pandemic.BMC public health · 2026Article
- Level of disability and associated factors among stroke survivors in Ethiopia: a multicenter cross-sectional study.BMC public health · 2026Article
- Fall risk, fall awareness, and social support among 825 community-dwelling older adults with functional limitations: a cross-sectional study.Frontiers in public health · 2026Article
- Co-designing the disability awareness toolkit for disability-inclusive and accessible health and post-GBV clinical services in South Africa.International journal for equity in health · 2025Article
- People-centered strategies to mobilize people living with disabilities due to Neglected Tropical Diseases (PD-NTDs) to influence policy and programs: A mixed-methods study in Côte d'Ivoire.PLoS neglected tropical diseases · 2025Article
- Socioeconomic inequalities in disability prevalence and health service use in Bangladesh.Scientific reports · 2025Article
- Disability inclusion and participation in Mount Frere, Eastern Cape: Barriers and facilitators.African journal of disability · 2025Article
- Health systems and quality of life: The situation of South Africans with spinal cord injury.The South African journal of physiotherapy · 2025Article
- Perceptions of physiotherapists regarding challenges experienced by patients with Deafness in accessing rehabilitative care.The South African journal of physiotherapy · 2025Article
- Left behind in primary healthcare: A qualitative exploration of healthcare experiences of people with disabilities in Ethiopia.PLOS global public health · 2025Article
- Disability Inclusive Youth (DIY) Research: an innovative and co-creative study to improve inclusion of children and youth with disabilities in health research in East Africa: a mixed-method study protocol.Wellcome open research · 2025Article
- Healthcare utilization among people with disabilities in Iran: what predictors are associated with medical visits?BMC health services research · 2024Article
- Cervical Cancer Screening Uptake Among Women with Disabilities: Findings from a Cross-Sectional Study in Chile.International journal of environmental research and public health · 2024Article
- Health Narratives as a Therapeutic Tool for Health Care Access for People with Intellectual and Developmental Disabilities.Occupational therapy in health care · 2024Article
- Patients' experiences in the use of mobile health clinics in KwaMachi rural area of KwaZulu-Natal, South Africa.Dialogues in health · 2024Review
Corrections and comments
PubMed lists nothing against this paper. Absence here is not a guarantee, only a check that was made.
Authors and funding
9 authors at 4 institutions in 4 countries.
Funding
Abstract
backgroundGlobal research suggests that persons with disabilities face barriers when accessing health care services. Yet, information regarding the nature of these barriers, especially in low-income and middle-income countries is sparse. Rural contexts in these countries may present greater barriers than urban contexts, but little is known about access issues in such contexts. There is a paucity of research in South Africa looking at "triple vulnerability" - poverty, disability and rurality. This study explored issues of access to health care for persons with disabilities in an impoverished rural area in South Africa.
methodsThe study includes a quantitative survey with interviews with 773 participants in 527 households. Comparisons in terms of access to health care between persons with disabilities and persons with no disabilities were explored. The approach to data analysis included quantitative data analysis using descriptive and inferential statistics. Frequency and cross tabulation, comparing and contrasting the frequency of different phenomena between persons with disabilities and persons with no disabilities, were used. Chi-square tests and Analysis of Variance tests were then incorporated into the analysis.
resultsPersons with disabilities have a higher rate of unmet health needs as compared to non-disabled. In rural Madwaleni in South Africa, persons with disabilities faced significantly more barriers to accessing health care compared to persons without disabilities. Barriers increased with disability severity and was reduced with increasing level of education, living in a household without disabled members and with age.
conclusionsThis study has shown that access to health care in a rural area in South Africa for persons with disabilities is more of an issue than for persons without disabilities in that they face more barriers. Implications are that we need to look beyond the medical issues of disability and address social and inclusion issues as well.
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Registered trials
Read under generation 80e0d062 · epoch 390. Bibliography from PubMed, PubMed Central and OpenAlex; grants from NIH RePORTER; trial links from ClinicalTrials.gov; estimates, votes and beliefs from the OpenQuestion graph.