Abstract
IntroductionElectricity outages are common in low/middle-income countries and have been shown to adversely affect the operation of health facilities; however, little is known about the effect of outages on the utilisation of health services.MethodsUsing data from the 2015–2016 India Demographic Health Survey, combined with information on electricity outages as reported by the state electricity provider, we explore the associations between outage duration and frequency and delivery in an institution, skilled birth attendance, and caesarean section delivery in Maharashtra State, India. We employ multivariable logistic regression, adjusting for individual and household-level covariates as well as month and district-level fixed effects.ResultsPower outage frequency was associated with a significantly lower odds of delivering in an institution (OR 0.98; 95% CI 0.96 to 0.99), and the average number of 8.5 electricity interruptions per month was found to yield a 2.08% lower likelihood of delivering in a facility, which translates to an almost 18% increase in home births. Both power outage frequency and duration were associated with a significantly lower odds of skilled birth attendance (OR 0.97; 95% CI 0.95 to 0.99, and OR 0.99; 95% CI 0.992 to 0.999, respectively), while neither power outage frequency nor duration was a significant predictor of caesarean section delivery.ConclusionPower outage frequency and duration are important determinants of maternal health service usage in Maharashtra State, India. Improving electricity services may lead to improved maternal and newborn health outcomes.
Subject
Public Health, Environmental and Occupational Health,Health Policy
Cited by
17 articles.
订阅此论文施引文献
订阅此论文施引文献,注册后可以免费订阅5篇论文的施引文献,订阅后可以查看论文全部施引文献