ArticleBMC health services research2025
Barriers and facilitators to patient utilization of noncommunicable disease services in primary healthcare facilities in Nepal: a qualitative study.
Article in BMC health services research, 2025. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 8 papers.
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
8 citing papers in PubMed.
- Integration of Cardiovascular Disease Services within Primary Health Care Systems: Insights from South Asia.Current atherosclerosis reports · 2026Review
- National program for cardiovascular disease and hypertension in primary healthcare: WHO-PEN program initial scale-up in Iran (IraPEN).BMC cardiovascular disorders · 2026Article
- Bringing severe non-communicable disease care to district-level hospitals in Nepal: PEN-Plus experience and regional policy implications.BMJ global health · 2026Article
- Health-seeking challenges among older adults with hypertension in Nepal: a phenomenological study.BMC geriatrics · 2025Article
- Co-design of pathway and manual for a dietitian-led approach to the management of type 2 diabetes in Nepal.BMC nutrition · 2025Article
- Review
- Burden of Non-Communicable Diseases and Emerging Attention in Gandaki Province, Nepal.JNMA; journal of the Nepal Medical Association · 2025Article
- Indigenous games and physical activity for preventing non-communicable diseases in African communities: a public health perspective.Frontiers in sports and active living · 2025Review
Corrections and comments
- Update of
Authors and funding
20 authors.
Funding
Abstract
backgroundThe Nepalese government endorsed and implemented the Package of Essential Non-Communicable Disease Interventions (PEN) by the World Health Organization (WHO) to prevent and manage four major non-communicable diseases (NCDs): cardiovascular disease (CVD), diabetes, cancers, and chronic respiratory diseases. This study explored barriers and facilitators to patient utilization of NCD services at primary healthcare facilities in Nepal.
methodsWe conducted a qualitative study with a 35 purposive sample of patients living with one or more NCDs (hypertension, diabetes, chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD/ asthma) who sought healthcare at primary healthcare facilities in 14 randomly selected districts in seven provinces in Nepal that implemented PEN. Trained qualitative researchers conducted in-depth interviews in person in a private setting using a semi-structured interview guide developed based on the Health Belief Model in the local language. The interviews were audio-recorded, transcribed verbatim, coded inductively and deductively, and analyzed by a framework approach using Dedoose software.
resultsFrom the perspectives of patients, key facilitators of service utilization encompassed free medicines, low-cost services, geographical and financial accessibility, less waiting time, positive interactions with health service providers, experiencing improvements in their health conditions, and support from family and peers. Barriers to utilizing services included inadequate health services (e.g., lack of medications and equipment), inaccessibility and affordability, inadequate health-related information from health service providers, low knowledge of NCD care, and lack of reminders or follow-ups.
conclusionEnhancing NCD service utilization is potentially attainable through interventions that address patients’ knowledge, self-motivation, and misconceptions. Furthermore, strengthening the availability and accessibility of crucial services such as laboratory investigations, medications, equipment, and the patient-provider relationship is crucial for the sustainable implementation of PEN.
Indexed as
Identifiers
What OpenQuestion holds
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.