Since the onset of the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan attention has increased on the importance of mental health with military service members. An integral component, although far less studied, are the ties between mental health and military spouses. Military deployments place considerable stress on military families. This study analyzed the mental health utilization of military spouses of active...

BACKGROUND Progress towards attaining the maternal mortality and maternal health targets set by Millennium Development Goal 5 has been slow in most African countries. Assessing antenatal care and institutional delivery service utilization and their determinants is an important step towards improving maternal health care services. METHODS Data were drawn from the longitudinal database of Kilit...

This study investigated the association between women's empowerment and the utilization of maternal health services by women in Egypt and analyzed the dimensions of women's empowerment that are associated with increased health service utilization. A cross-sectional survey was conducted in a village in Egypt in November 2007. A total of 189 women, who had ever been married and had at least one c...

PURPOSE To describe and explain variations in first mental health service utilization before and after running away from home for homeless adolescents. METHODS Survey interviews were conducted with homeless and runaway youth in several Midwestern locations. The effects of family of origin factors and street experiences on the likelihood of seeing a mental health professional for the first tim...

BACKGROUND Bangladesh is one among the few countries of the world that provides free medical services at the community level through various public health facilities. It is now evident that, clients' perceived quality of services and their expectations of service standards affect health service utilization to a great extent. The aim of the study was to develop and validate the measures for perc...

RATIONALE AND OBJECTIVES Age-related effects on health service utilization are not well understood. Most previous studies have examined only a single specific health care service or disease condition or have focused exclusively on economic variables. We aim to measure age-related change in health care utilization among the elderly. METHODS A population-based retrospective cohort study was con...

Maternal health across Papua New Guinea (PNG) is of extreme public health concern. In response, the National Department of Health explicitly prioritized improving maternal, neonatal and child health services, envisaging increased collaboration between the formal health system and community-based initiatives as one method for achieving this. This study examined the patterns of formal and non-for...

Health service utilization is an important component of child health promotion. Evidence shows that two-thirds of child deaths in low and middle income countries could be prevented if current interventions were adequately utilized. Aim of this study was to identify determinants of variation in health services utilization for children in communities in Nigeria. Multivariable negative binomial re...

INTRODUCTION Health information systems (HIS) are considered fundamental for the efficient delivery of high quality health care. However, a large number of legal and practical constraints influence the design and introduction of such systems. The inability to quantify and analyse situations with credible data and to use data in planning and managing service delivery plagues Africa. Establishing...

OBJECTIVE To outline mental health service accessibility, estimate the treatment gap and describe service utilization for people with schizophrenic disorders in 50 low- and middle-income countries. METHODS The World Health Organization Assessment Instrument for Mental Health Systems was used to assess the accessibility of mental health services for schizophrenic disorders and their utilizatio...