Does Distance Matter? A Spatial Analysis of Antenatal Care Usage Patterns in Uganda, 2006

Marguerite L. Sagna, University of Texas at San Antonio
Corey S. Sparks, University of Texas at San Antonio

Numerous studies in developing countries have found that women face high risks of disability and mortality throughout their childbearing ages, due to a certain extent to the limited access to health care services. Yet, very few empirical studies have incorporated area-level factors in the explanation of women’s poor health outcomes in developing countries. Using the Geographic Information System, the purpose of this paper is to examine spatial variation in access to prenatal care in relation to roads and health care facilities locations in Uganda. Findings of this study reveal that associations between antenatal care services and distance to roads and hospitals vary across space and that rates of prenatal care usage are spatially clustered in specific parts of the country.