Determinants of access to healthcare by older persons in Uganda: a cross-sectional study
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Date
2015
Journal Title
Journal ISSN
Volume Title
Publisher
International journal for equity in health
Abstract
Older persons report poor health status and greater need for healthcare. However, there is limited
research on older persons’ healthcare disparities in Uganda. Therefore, this paper aimed at investigating factors
associated with older persons’ healthcare access in Uganda, using a nationally representative sample.
Methods: We conducted secondary analysis of data from a sample of 1602 older persons who reported being sick in
the last 30 days preceding the Uganda National Household Survey. We used frequency distributions for descriptive
data analysis and chi-square tests to identify initial associations. We fit generalized linear models (GLM) with the poisson
family and the log link function, to obtain incidence risk ratios (RR) of accessing healthcare in the last 30 days, by older
persons in Uganda.
Results: More than three quarters (76%) of the older persons accessed healthcare in the last 30 days. Access to healthcare
in the last 30 days was reduced for older persons from poor households (RR = 0.91, 95% CI: 0.83-0.99); with some walking
difficulty (RR = 0.90, 95% CI: 0.83-0.97); or with a lot of walking difficulty (RR = 0.84, 95% CI: 0.75-0.95). Conversely,
accessing healthcare in the last 30 days for older persons increased for those who earned wages (RR = 1.08, 95% CI:
1.00-1.15) and missed work due to illness for 1–7 days (RR = 1.19, 95% CI: 1.10-1.30); and 8–14 days (RR = 1.19, 95% CI:
1.07-1.31). In addition, those who reported non-communicable diseases (NCDs) such as heart disease, hypertension or
diabetes (RR = 1.09, 95% CI: 1.01-1.16); were more likely to access healthcare during the last 30 days.
Description
Keywords
Africa, Uganda, Utilization, Health care, Health services, Elderly
Citation
Wandera, S. O., Kwagala, B., & Ntozi, J. (2015). Determinants of access to healthcare by older persons in Uganda: a cross-sectional study. International journal for equity in health, 14(1), 1-10. 10.1186/s12939-015-0157-z