Table 1.
Background characteristics and barriers to healthcare access among women in Papua New Guinea (n=14 653)
| Receiving | Money needed | Distance to | Not wanting to | At least | |||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| permission to go | for treatment | health facility | go alone | one barrier | |||
| Variable | N | % | Big problem | Big problem | Big problem | Big problem | Yes |
| Age, y | p<0.001 | p=0.323 | p=0.176 | p<0.001 | p<0.001 | ||
| 15–19 | 2894 | 19.8 | 993 (34.3) | 1807 (62.4) | 1452 (50.2) | 1513 (52.3) | 679 (23.5) |
| 20–24 | 2621 | 17.9 | 761 (29.0) | 1592 (60.7) | 1307 (49.9) | 1099 (41.9) | 727 (27.7) |
| 25–29 | 2379 | 16.2 | 706 (29.7) | 1456 (61.2) | 1226 (51.5) | 940 (39.5) | 685 (28.8) |
| 30–34 | 2117 | 14.5 | 604 (28.5) | 1259 (59.5) | 1106 (52.2) | 816 (38.6) | 644 (30.4) |
| 35–39 | 1964 | 13.4 | 556 (28.3) | 1219 (62.1) | 1050 (53.5) | 759 (38.7) | 576 (29.3 |
| 40–44 | 1488 | 10.2 | 406 (27.3) | 888 (59.7) | 751 (50.5) | 517 (34.7) | 463 (31.1) |
| 45–49 | 1190 | 8.1 | 349 (29.3) | 718 (60.3) | 622 (52.3) | 469 (39.4) | 356 (29.9) |
| Marital status | p<0.001 | p<0.001 | p<0.001 | p<0.001 | p<0.001 | ||
| Never married | 4049 | 27.6 | 1321 (32.6) | 2477 (61.2) | 1977 (48.8) | 2005 (49.5) | 1048 (25.9) |
| Married/living together | 9547 | 65.2 | 2799 (29.3) | 5797 (60.7) | 5028 (52.7) | 3752 (39.3) | 2760 (28.9) |
| Widowed/divorced | 379 | 2.6 | 90 (23.8) | 258 (68.1) | 208 (54.9) | 150 (39.6) | 97 (25.6) |
| Married but not together | 678 | 4.6 | 165 (24.3) | 407 (60.0) | 301 (44.4) | 206 (30.4) | 225 (33.2) |
| Educational level | p<0.000 | p<0.000 | p<0.000 | p<0.000 | p<0.000 | ||
| No education | 2735 | 18.7 | 1042 (38.1) | 2102 (76.9) | 1936 (70.8) | 1532 (56.0) | 464 (17.0) |
| Primary | 7616 | 52.0 | 2451 (32.2) | 4960 (65.1) | 4244 (55.7) | 3369 (44.2) | 1825 (24.0) |
| Secondary or higher | 4302 | 29.4 | 882 (20.5) | 1877 (43.6) | 1334 (31.0) | 1212 (28.2) | 1841 (42.8) |
| Occupation | p<0.001 | p<0.001 | p<0.001 | p<0.001 | p<0.001 | ||
| Unemployed | 9730 | 66.4 | 2861 (29.4) | 6176 (63.5) | 5248 (53.9) | 4283 (44.0) | 2514 (25.8) |
| Managerial | 728 | 5.0 | 127 (17.5) | 201 (27.6) | 190 (26.1) | 157 (21.6) | 414 (56.9) |
| Clerical/agric. | 4085 | 27.9 | 1360 (33.3) | 2502 (61.3) | 2034 (49.8) | 1638 (40.1) | 1164 (28.5) |
| Manual | 110 | 0.8 | 27 (24.6) | 60 (54.6) | 42 (38.2) | 35 (31.8) | 38 (34.6) |
| Religion | p<0.001 | p<0.001 | p<0.001 | p<0.001 | p=0.007 | ||
| Orthodox | 4549 | 31.0 | 1541 (33.9) | 2810 (61.8) | 2449 (53.8) | 2012 (44.2) | 1225 (26.9) |
| Protestant | 7040 | 48.0 | 1861 (26.4) | 4208 (59.8) | 3477 (49.4) | 2792 (39.7) | 2070 (29.4) |
| Other | 3064 | 20.9 | 973 (31.8) | 1921 (62.7) | 1588 (51.8) | 1309 (42.7) | 835 (27.3) |
| Number of children | p<0.001 | p<0.001 | p<0.001 | p<0.001 | p<0.001 | ||
| None | 4734 | 32.3 | 1509 (31.9) | 2864 (60.5) | 2289 (48.4) | 2258 (47.7) | 1261 (26.6) |
| 1–4 | 7348 | 50.2 | 2062 (28.1) | 4387 (59.7) | 3717 (50.6) | 2749 (37.4) | 2223 (30.3) |
| ≥5 | 2571 | 17.6 | 804 (31.3) | 1688 (65.7) | 1508 (58.7) | 1106 (43.0) | 646 (25.1) |
| Covered by health insurance | p<0.001 | p<0.001 | p<0.001 | p<0.001 | p<0.001 | ||
| No | 14 080 | 96.1 | 4269 (30.3) | 8761 (62.2) | 7386 (52.5) | 5970 (42.4) | 3827 (27.2) |
| Yes | 573 | 3.9 | 106 (18.5) | 178 (31.1) | 128 (22.3) | 143 (25.0) | 303 (52.9) |
| Frequency of reading newspaper or magazine | p<0.001 | p<0.001 | p<0.001 | p<0.001 | p<0.001 | ||
| Not at all | 8554 | 58.4 | 2938 (34.4) | 6001 (70.2) | 5361 (62.7) | 4156 (48.6) | 1798 (21.0) |
| Less than once a week | 3220 | 22.0 | 908 (28.2) | 1699 (52.8) | 1290 (40.1) | 1135 (35.3) | 1081 (33.6) |
| At least once a week | 2879 | 19.7 | 529 (18.4) | 1239 (43.0) | 863 (30.0) | 822 (28.6) | 1251 (43.5) |
| Frequency of listening to radio | p<0.001 | p<0.001 | p<0.001 | p<0.001 | p<0.001 | ||
| Not at all | 8886 | 60.6 | 2915 (32.8) | 6009 (67.6) | 5391 (60.7) | 4209 (47.4) | 2042 (23.0) |
| Less than once a week | 2746 | 18.7 | 866 (31.5) | 1538 (56.0) | 1151 (41.9) | 1021 (37.2) | 854 (31.1) |
| At least once a week | 3021 | 20.6 | 594 (19.7) | 1392 (46.1) | 972 (32.2) | 883 (29.2) | 1234 (40.9) |
| Frequency of watching television | p<0.001 | p<0.001 | p<0.001 | p<0.001 | p<0.001 | ||
| Not at all | 10 618 | 72.5 | 3461 (32.6) | 7117 (67.0) | 6353 (59.8) | 4955 (46.7) | 2441 (23.0) |
| Less than once a week | 1531 | 10.5 | 444 (29.0) | 791 (51.7) | 546 (35.7) | 485 (31.7) | 552 (36.1) |
| At least once a week | 2504 | 17.1 | 470 (18.8) | 1031 (41.2) | 615 (24.6) | 673 (26.9) | 1137 (45.4) |
| Gender of head of household | p<0.001 | p<0.001 | p<0.001 | p<0.001 | p<0.001 | ||
| Male | 11 915 | 81.3 | 3640 (30.6) | 7355 (61.7) | 6266 (52.6) | 5072 (42.6) | 3237 (27.2) |
| Female | 2738 | 18.7 | 735 (26.8) | 1584 (57.9) | 1248 (45.6) | 1041 (38.0) | 893 (32.6) |
| Wealth | p<0.001 | p<0.001 | p<0.001 | p<0.001 | p<0.001 | ||
| Poorest | 2048 | 14.0 | 907 (44.3) | 1713 (83.6) | 1639 (80.0) | 1319 (64.4) | 214 (10.5) |
| Poorer | 2221 | 15.2 | 822 (37.0) | 1677 (75.5) | 1567 (70.6) | 1187 (53.4) | 379 (17.1) |
| Middle | 2565 | 17.5 | 779 (30.4) | 1761 (68.7) | 1609 (62.7) | 1201 (46.8) | 541 (21.1) |
| Richer | 3589 | 24.5 | 1039 (29.0) | 2135 (59.5) | 1739 (48.5) | 1358 (37.8) | 1006 (28.0) |
| Richest | 4230 | 28.9 | 828 (19.6) | 1653 (39.1) | 960 (22.7) | 1048 (24.8) | 1990 (47.0) |
| Residence | p<0.001 | p<0.001 | p<0.001 | p<0.001 | p<0.001 | ||
| Urban | 3894 | 26.6 | 741 (19.0) | 1662 (42.7) | 831 (21.3) | 971 (24.9) | 1787 (45.9) |
| Rural | 10,759 | 73.4 | 3634 (33.8) | 7277 (67.6) | 6683 (62.1) | 5142 (47.8) | 2343 (21.8) |
| Region | p<0.000 | p<0.000 | p<0.000 | p<0.000 | p<0.000 | ||
| Southern | 4221 | 28.8 | 1064 (25.2) | 2352 (55.7) | 2031 (48.1) | 1742 (41.3) | 1334 (31.6) |
| Highlands | 3916 | 26.7 | 1116 (28.5) | 2609 (66.6) | 2039 (52.1) | 1621 (41.4) | 1047 (26.7) |
| Momase | 2982 | 20.4 | 1078 (36.2) | 1962 (65.8) | 1778 (59.6) | 1396 (46.8) | 700 (23.5) |
| Islands | 3534 | 24.1 | 1117 (31.6) | 2016 (57.1) | 1666 (47.1) | 1354 (38.3) | 1049 (29.7) |
| Community level socioeconomic status | p<0.001 | p<0.001 | p<0.001 | p<0.001 | p<0.001 | ||
| Tertile 1 (least disadvantaged) | 4907 | 33.49 | 1269 (25.9) | 2320 (47.3) | 1465 (29.9) | 1427 (29.1) | 1961 (40.0) |
| Tertile 2 (middle disadvantaged) | 4884 | 33.33 | 1255 (25.7) | 2882 (59.0) | 2513 (51.5) | 1893 (38.8) | 1408 (28.8) |
| Tertile 3 (most disadvantaged) | 4862 | 33.18 | 1851 (38.1) | 3737 (76.9) | 3536 (72.7) | 2793 (57.5) | 761 (15.7) |