Table 1 Description of study variables
Study variables | Description | Categorizations |
|---|---|---|
Outcome variable | ||
Health facility delivery | A health facility delivery was when the most recent childbirth took place in a government hospital, government health center, government health post, other public sector, private hospital/clinic or other private facility When a delivery took place in a respondent’s home, other home, or other places, it was not a health facility delivery | ▪ Utilized health facility for delivery ▪ Did not utilize health facility for delivery |
Individual Level Variables | ||
Age at childbirth | Age of the mother when she had the most recent childbirth | ▪ 15 – 19 years ▪ 20 – 24 years |
Marital status | Women not married were defined as those never in union and those that were formerly in union/living with a man Married women were defined as women currently in union/living with a man | ▪ Not married ▪ Married |
Highest level of education | The highest level of formal education attained | ▪ No education ▪ Primary ▪ Secondary ▪ Higher |
Employment status | If the respondent was employed at time of survey | ▪ currently working ▪ Not currently working |
Wanted index pregnancy | Refers to if the respondent wanted the pregnancy when she became pregnant | ▪ Pregnancy wanted ▪ Pregnancy not wanted |
Number of childbirths | The number of children ever born to the respondent | ▪ 1 ▪ 2–3 ▪ 4–7 |
Number of antenatal visits | Number of antenatal visits in the index pregnancy | ▪ No ANC visits ▪ less than four visits ▪ at least four visits |
Distance to health facility | Refers to how much of a problem is ‘the distance to the health facility’ in getting medical help for oneself | ▪ A big problem ▪ Not a big problem |
Household wealth index | Household wealth index in the NDHS is divided into five equal categories; poorest, poorer, middle, richer, richest In this study, we recoded wealth index into 3 categories with ‘poor’ comprising of poorest and poorer, ‘middle’ comprising of middle and ‘rich’ comprising of richer and richest | ▪ Poor ▪ Middle ▪ Rich |
Exposure to mass media | Mass media exposure was generated from exposure to television, radio and newspaper Mass media exposure was defined as ‘exposed’ for those with access to at least one of television, radio or newspaper, and ‘no exposure’ for those who had no access to any of these | ▪ No exposure ▪ Exposed |
Participates in healthcare decision | This refers to whether respondent participates in decision on her healthcare This variable was derived from the variable—person who usually decides on respondent’s health care A respondent participates if the decision is made by respondent alone, or respondent and partner A respondent does not participate when the decision is made by her partner alone, or someone else | ▪ Participates: ▪ Does not participate |
Partner’s level of education | The highest level of education of respondent’s partner | ▪ No education ▪ Primary ▪ Secondary ▪ Higher |
Partner’s employment status | This refers to whether the partner was employed at the time of the survey or not | ▪ Currently employed ▪ Not currently employed |
Community Variables | ||
Community level poverty | Community level poverty was defined as the proportion of women who are from the poorest and poorer communities | ▪ Low ▪ Medium ▪ High |
Community level women’s education | Community level women’s education was defined as proportion of women from community with at least secondary education | ▪ Low ▪ Medium ▪ High |
Community level of skilled prenatal support | Community skilled prenatal care was defined as proportion of women from community with availability of antenatal care from a skilled health provider (doctor, nurse, midwives) | ▪ Low ▪ Medium ▪ High |
Community level of transportation support | Community level of transportation was defined as the proportion of women from community with viable means of transportation to health facility | ▪ Low ▪ Medium ▪ High |
Ethnic diversity | Ethnic diversity refers to the concentration of different ethnic groups in a community It was defined as the proportion of women from different ethnic groups in the primary sampling unit The value ranges from 0 to 100. A value of 0 (low) reflects a mono-ethnic community, whereas a value of 100 (high) relects that the community is multi-ethnic in nature | ▪ Low ▪ Medium ▪ High |
Place of residence | The place of residence if urban or rural | ▪ Urban ▪ Rural |
Region | This is the geographical region which the respondent lives | ▪ Northcentral ▪ Northeast ▪ Northwest ▪ Southeast, ▪ South-south ▪ Southwest |