ArticleBMC health services research2026
Co-payments for healthcare by insured clients of Ghana's National Health Insurance Scheme: evidence from the 2022 Ghana Demographic and Health Survey.
Article in BMC health services research, 2026. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Not yet cited in PubMed.
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
0 citing papers in PubMed.
No citing paper in PubMed yet.
Corrections and comments
PubMed lists nothing against this paper. Absence here is not a guarantee, only a check that was made.
Authors and funding
3 authors.
Funding
No grant is acknowledged in the PubMed record.
Abstract
backgroundClients insured by Ghana's National Health Insurance Scheme (NHIS) who seek healthcare at credentialed facilities incur substantial out-of-pocket (OOP) payments for services covered by the scheme. While co-payments are part of OOP payments, the extent of these co-payments has received limited empirical attention. This study sought to determine co-payment levels and identify the social and demographic factors associated with co-payment for outpatient services, inpatient care, and drugs among insured clients of the scheme.
methodsWe used the 2022 Ghana Demographic and Health Survey data. This was a cross-sectional design, which employed a stratified two-stage random sampling technique. We analysed data involving 8,467 respondents with information on utilisation and payment for health services. Data were analysed using Stata version 16. Descriptive and inferential statistics were performed with statistical significance at p < 0.05.
resultsAmong insured clients who made any out-of-pocket payment, 58.4% reported it as a co-payment for drugs, 52.5% for inpatient care, and 48.4% for outpatient consultation. Respondents aged 25-34 years (AOR: 0.43; CI: 0.18-0.99; p < 0.05) had significantly reduced odds of co-payment for inpatient care, while urban residents had increased odds of co-payment for drugs (AOR: 1.42; CI: 1.03-1.95; p < 0.05) compared to their rural counterparts. Furthermore, being from the Eastern (p < 0.05), Upper West (p < 0.05) and Northern (p < 0.05) regions was associated with reduced odds of co-payment for outpatient consultation and drugs. However, compared to no formal education, having primary education statistically significantly increases the odds of co-payment for outpatient consultation (AOR: 2.66; CI: 1.13-6.27; p < 0.05) and drugs (AOR: 1.82; CI: 1.11-2.99; p < 0.05) while being rich significantly reduces the odds of co-payment for outpatient consultation (AOR: 0.40; CI: 0.19-0.84; p < 0.05).
conclusionInsured clients presenting at credentialed health facilities make co-payments for outpatient services, inpatient care, and drugs covered by the scheme. The study highlights the multifaceted determinants of co-payments. The extent of co-payments may impede Ghana's progress toward achieving Universal Health Coverage (UHC). There is a need to eliminate co-payments for outpatient services, inpatient care, and drugs for insured clients to realize the UHC goal.
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.