ArticleReproductive health2025
Regional trends, spatial patterns and factors associated with health facility delivery among women of reproductive age in Sierra Leone.
Article in Reproductive health, 2025. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 1 paper.
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
1 citing paper in PubMed.
Corrections and comments
PubMed lists nothing against this paper. Absence here is not a guarantee, only a check that was made.
Authors and funding
5 authors.
Funding
No grant is acknowledged in the PubMed record.
Abstract
backgroundHealth facility delivery is a critical intervention for reducing maternal and neonatal mortality. Although notable progress has been made globally, Sierra Leone continues to face high maternal and neonatal mortality rates, with disparities in access to health facility delivery across regions and socio-economic groups. This study examined the regional trends, spatial patterns, and factors associated with health facility delivery among women of reproductive age in Sierra Leone using data from the 2008, 2013, and 2019 Demographic and Health Surveys .
methodsThis cross-sectional study utilized data among 19,809 women aged 15–49 who participated in the 2008, 2013, and 2019 Sierra Leone Demographic and Health Surveys. Descriptive statistics were used to analyze health facility delivery utilization trends across survey years and regions. Spatial analysis, including Moran's I and Getis Ord GI statistics, was performed to identify the spatial clustering of health facility delivery. A pooled multilevel logistic regression model was employed to identify individual and community-level factors associated with health facility delivery.
resultsThe prevalence of health facility delivery increased from 24.6% in 2008 to 83.4% in 2019. Spatial analysis revealed clustering of health facility delivery, with hotspots in the Eastern and Southern regions and cold spots in the Northern and Northwestern regions. Our pooled multilevel analysis revealed that women aged 20–29, those with primary education, those with secondary education, those with higher education, those from middle-wealth households, those from rich households, those who attended at least four antenatal care visits, and those exposed to media had higher odds of health facility delivery. Additionally, women who were Muslims, those practicing traditional/other religions, those who were employed, those with higher parity, those residing in rural areas, those who reported distance to health facilities as a medium problem, those who reported distance to health facilities as a high problem, those from Northern, those from Northwestern, those from the Southern, and those from the Western Area had lower odds of health facility delivery. Health facility delivery odds were higher during the 2013 and 2019 surveys compared to 2008.
conclusionDespite improvements in health facility delivery utilization in Sierra Leone, major regional and socio-economic disparities remain. Targeted interventions to enhance maternal education, reduce geographic barriers, and address community-level inequalities are essential for equitable access to health facility delivery and better maternal and neonatal health outcomes.
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.