ArticleBMC health services research2023
The effect of distance to health facility on neonatal mortality in Ethiopia.
Article in BMC health services research, 2023. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 17 papers, 1 of them a synthesis that pooled it.
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Who cites it
17 citing papers in PubMed, 1 synthesis or guideline pooled it.
- Impact of travel time to health facilities on perinatal outcomes: a systematic review with narrative synthesis and meta-analysis.Journal of global health · 2026Pooled it
- Estimating the risk of acute malnutrition among under-five children in Uganda: a distributional analysis of socioeconomic and structural inequalities.BMJ paediatrics open · 2026Article
- Aetiology, survival time and mortality predictors among early neonates at two tertiary hospitals of Lusaka, Zambia.BMC pregnancy and childbirth · 2026Article
- Exploring the association between home delivery and under-five mortality in Ethiopia: A bivariate multilevel mixed-effects analysis.PloS one · 2026Article
- Factors influencing the utilisation of maternal healthcare services among reproductive-age women in Tabora region, Tanzania: an analysis of a baseline survey data from a clinical trial.BMJ public health · 2026Article
- Outborn Neonates in Nairobi's Public Hospitals: Mortality Burden and Risk Factors.Wellcome open research · 2026Article
- Persistence of geographic barriers to maternal care services following a health system strengthening initiative in rural Madagascar.BMC pregnancy and childbirth · 2025Article
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- Spatial targeting and integration across vaccination, vitamin A and deworming programs throughout India 2019-21.International journal of epidemiology · 2024Article
- Examining inequalities in spatial access to national health insurance fund contracted facilities in Kenya.International journal for equity in health · 2024Article
- Risk factors associated with neonatal mortality among neonates admitted to neonatal intensive care unit of the University Teaching Hospital in Lusaka.Scientific reports · 2024Article
- Factors associated with perinatal mortality in sub-Saharan Africa: A multilevel analysis.PloS one · 2024Article
- Trends in Neonatal Mortality at Princess Marie Louise Children's Hospital, Accra, and the Newborn Strategic Plan: Implications for Reducing Mortality in Hospital and the Community.Children (Basel, Switzerland) · 2023Article
- Determinants of infant mortality in Oromia region, Ethiopia.Annals of medicine and surgery (2012) · 2023Article
- Neonatal Transport Network Services: Preparedness of healthcare systems in Southern Nigeria.Nigerian medical journal : journal of the Nigeria Medical AssociationArticle
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Authors and funding
3 authors.
Funding
No grant is acknowledged in the PubMed record.
Abstract
introductionIn Ethiopia, more than half of newborn babies do not have access to Emergency Obstetric and Neonatal Care (EmONC) services. Understanding the effect of distance to health facilities on service use and neonatal survival is crucial to recommend policymakers and improving resource distribution. We aimed to investigate the effect of distance to health services on maternal service use and neonatal mortality.
methodsWe implemented a data integration method based on geographic coordinates. We calculated straight-line (Euclidean) distances from the Ethiopian 2016 demographic and health survey (EDHS) clusters to the closest health facility. We computed the distance in ESRI ArcGIS Version 10.3 using the geographic coordinates of DHS clusters and health facilities. Generalised Structural Equation Modelling (GSEM) was used to estimate the effect of distance on neonatal mortality.
resultsPoor geographic accessibility to health facilities affects maternal service usage and increases the risk of newborn mortality. For every ten kilometres (km) increase in distance to a health facility, the odds of neonatal mortality increased by 1.33% (95% CI: 1.06% to 1.67%). Distance also negatively affected antenatal care, facility delivery and postnatal counselling service use.
conclusionsA lack of geographical access to health facilities decreases the likelihood of newborns surviving their first month of life and affects health services use during pregnancy and immediately after birth. The study also showed that antenatal care use was positively associated with facility delivery service use and that both positively influenced postnatal care use, demonstrating the interconnectedness of the components of continuum of care for maternal and neonatal care services. Policymakers can leverage the findings from this study to improve accessibility barriers to health services.
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