University Hospital and Medical Faculty Researchers Publish Findings in Obstetrics and Gynecology (Comprehensive Health Insurance and access to maternal healthcare services among Peruvian women: a cross-sectional study using the 2021 national …): Health and Medicine – Obstetrics and Gynecology

2023 DEC 06 (NewsRx) -- By a News Reporter-Staff News Editor at Health & Medicine Business Daily -- Fresh data on obstetrics and gynecology are presented in a new report. According to news reporting originating from the University Hospital and Medical Faculty by NewsRx correspondents, research stated, “The government-subsidized health insurance scheme Seguro Integral de Salud (‘SIS’) was introduced in Peru initially to provide coverage to uninsured and poor pregnant women and children under five years old and was later extended to cover all uninsured members of the population following the Peruvian Plan Esencial de Aseguramiento Universal - ‘PEAS’ (Essential UHC Package). Our study aimed to analyze the extent to which the introduction of SIS has increased equity in access and quality by comparing the utilization of maternal healthcare services among women with different insurance coverages.”

Funders for this research include Else Kroner-fresenius-stiftung; Deutsche Forschungsgemeinschaft; Ruprecht-karls-universitat Heidelberg.

Our news journalists obtained a quote from the research from University Hospital and Medical Faculty: “Relying on the 2021 round of the nationally-representative survey ‘ENDES’ (Encuesta Nacional Demografica y de Salud Familiar), we analyzed data for 19,181 women aged 15-49 with a history of pregnancy in the five years preceding the survey date. We used a series of logistic regressions to explore the association between health insurance coverage (defined as No Insurance, SIS, or Standard Insurance) and a series of outcome variables measuring access to and quality of all services along the available maternal healthcare continuum. Only 46.5% of women across all insurance schemes reported having accessed effective ANC prevention. Findings from the adjusted logistic regression confirmed that insured women were more likely to have accessed ANC services compared with uninsured women. Our findings indicate that women in the ‘SIS’ group were more likely to have accessed six ANC visits (aOR = 1.40; 95% CI 1.14-1.73) as well as effective ANC prevention (aOR = 1.32; 95% CI 1.17-1.48), ANC education (aOR = 1.59; 95% CI 1.41-1.80) and ANC screening (aOR = 1.46; 95% CI 1.27-1.69) during pregnancy, compared with women in the ‘Standard Insurance’ group [aOR = 1.35 (95% CI 1.13-1.62), 1.22 (95% CI 1.04-1.42), 1.34 (95% CI 1.18-1.51) and 1.31(95% CI 1.15-1.49)] respectively. In addition, women in the ‘Standard Insurance’ group were more likely to have received skilled attendance at birth (aOR = 2.17, 95% CI 1.33-3.55) compared with the women in the ‘SIS’ insurance group (aOR = 2.12; 95% CI 1.41-3.17).”

According to the news reporters, the research concluded: “Our findings indicate the persistence of inequities in access to maternal healthcare services that manifest themselves not only in the reduced utilization among the uninsured, but also in the lower quality of service coverage that uninsured women received compared with women insured under ‘Standard Insurance’ or ‘SIS’. Further policy reforms are needed both to expand insurance coverage and to ensure that all women receive the same access to care irrespective of their specific insurance coverage.”

For more information on this research see: Comprehensive Health Insurance and access to maternal healthcare services among Peruvian women: a cross-sectional study using the 2021 national demographic survey. BMC Pregnancy and Childbirth, 2023,23(1):1-10. (BMC Pregnancy and Childbirth - http://bmcpregnancychildbirth.biomedcentral.com). The publisher for BMC Pregnancy and Childbirth is BMC.

A free version of this journal article is available at https://doi.org/10.1186/s12884-023-06086-3.

Our news editors report that additional information may be obtained by contacting Eduardo Ramos Rosas, Heidelberg Institute of Global Health, University Hospital and Medical Faculty, Heidelberg University. Additional authors for this research include Volker Winkler, Luis Huicho, Magaly M. Blas, Stephan Brenner, Manuela De Allegri.

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