Factors Related to Health Service Utilization among Adolescent Girls in Urban Slums of Jaipur, India

Abstract

Objective: This study aimed to determine the factors associated with health-care service utilization among adolescent girls in urban slums in Jaipur, India. Material and Methods: A cross-sectional study of 417 adolescent girls was conducted. Descriptive statistics, Chi-square, and bivariate and multivariate logistic regression were used to analyze the data and determine the factors associated with healthcare service utilization. Findings: Only 48.2% of girls with health problems visited health-care facilities for treatment. About 68.6% delayed treatment by 3 or more days after the onset of symptoms, and 85.6% first tried remedies available at home. Girl’s education (adjusted odds ratio [AOR] = 2.7; 95% confidence interval [CI] = 0.65– 8.57), mother’s education (AOR = 3.43; 95% CI = 1.2– 9.96), father’s income (AOR = 2.2; 95% CI = 0.76– 5.32), mother’s income (AOR = 3.67; 95% CI = 1.03– 11.18), and counseling by field health workers (AOR = 3.23; 95% CI = 1.18– 7.89) were factors significantly associated with utilization of health services. Girls cited parental neglect of their health, insufficient funds, lack of privacy, and inconvenient assessment times at health facilities as major barriers. Conclusion: The findings from the study show that the utilization of facility-based health services among adolescent girls is low, and there is a significant postponement in visiting health facilities after the onset of symptoms. There is a need to create community-level awareness, improve outreach by field health workers, ensure privacy in health-care facilities, and improve facility-based health service utilization among adolescent girls.