Determinants of male involvement in utilization of antenatal care services in Uganda

Abstract

Male involvement in the context of maternal and child health, is the practice wherein fathers and other men in the community facilitate access to better healthcare facilities and services for women and girls. The study was conducted to assess the determinants of male involvement in utilization of antenatal care services as an attempt to reduce maternal and infant mortality in Uganda. The study used secondary data from the 2016 Uganda Demographic and Health Survey dataset. A total of 18506 respondents were interviewed from which a sample of 1758 men aged 15-54 years was obtained. Data was analyzed using Stata 15 into frequency tables using actual tallies and percentages and association between the dependent and independent variables was tested using the Pearson’s Chi-square test. Ethical approval was sought from the Demographic health survey program before conduction the study. Study results indicate that the biggest proportion of men (63.8%) that accompanied their wives for antenatal care services were from rural residences (78.1%), aged 25-29 (47.1%), with primary education (55.3%), in the poorest quintile (40.6%), of catholic religion (37.5%), with less than five children (55.2%) and were married (61.6%). Findings from the study revealed that place of residence; wealth index and marital status significantly influence male involvement in utilization of antenatal care services with the measure of significance P ≤ 0.05. The study recommends that the government should ensure availability of antenatal care service not excluding services offered to men. This will help people to access them in case there is any need for them and also increase the number of trimesters. The government should extend health facilities in the rural areas of Uganda, where the local people could access services such as antenatal care services as one way of detecting, preventing and responding to risky maternal conditions, increasing awareness and knowledge of the birth preparation and plan, improving the Men status and increasing the utilization of antenatal care services for both men and women.