Barriers to surgical care in Nepal

Various barriers exist that preclude individuals from undergoing surgical care in low-income countries. Our study assessed the main barriers in Nepal, and identified individuals most at risk for not receiving required surgical care. A countrywide survey, using the Surgeons OverSeas Assessment of Sur...

Full description

Saved in:
Bibliographic Details
Published in:BMC health services research 2017-01, Vol.17 (1), p.72-72, Article 72
Main Authors: van Loenhout, Joris Adriaan Frank, Delbiso, Tefera Darge, Gupta, Shailvi, Amatya, Kapendra, Kushner, Adam L, Gil Cuesta, Julita, Guha-Sapir, Debarati
Format: Article
Language:English
Subjects:
Adult
Consent
Cross-Sectional Studies
Data analysis
Data collection
Developing countries
Developing Countries - statistics & numerical data
Expenditures
Female
General Surgery - manpower
Health care policy
Health Care Surveys
Health facilities
Health Facilities - supply & distribution
Health Services Accessibility - organization & administration
Health Services Accessibility - statistics & numerical data
Health Services Needs and Demand - statistics & numerical data
Hospitals
Households
Humans
LDCs
Low income groups
Male
Management
Medical care
Medical research
Mobile Health Units - statistics & numerical data
Nepal
Nepal - epidemiology
Polls & surveys
Population
Poverty - statistics & numerical data
Practice
Studies
Surgeons
Surgeons - supply & distribution
Surgery
Womens health
Citations: Items that this one cites
Items that cite this one
Online Access:Get full text
Tags: Add Tag
No Tags, Be the first to tag this record!
Description
Summary:Various barriers exist that preclude individuals from undergoing surgical care in low-income countries. Our study assessed the main barriers in Nepal, and identified individuals most at risk for not receiving required surgical care. A countrywide survey, using the Surgeons OverSeas Assessment of Surgical Need (SOSAS) survey tool, was carried out in 2014, surveying 2,695 individuals with a response rate of 97%. Our study used data from a subset, namely individuals who required surgical care in the last twelve months. Data were collected on individual characteristics, transport characteristics, and reasons why individuals did not undergo surgical care. Of the 2,695 individuals surveyed, 207 individuals needed surgical care at least once in the previous 12 months. The main reasons for not undergoing surgery were affordability (n = 42), accessibility (n = 42) and fear/no trust (n = 34). A factor significantly associated with affordability was having a low education (OR = 5.77 of having no education vs. having secondary education). Living in a rural area (OR = 2.59) and a long travel time to a secondary and tertiary health facility (OR = 1.17 and 1.09, respectively) were some of the factors significantly associated with accessibility. Being a woman was significantly associated with fear/no trust (OR = 3.54). More than half of the individuals who needed surgical care did not undergo surgery due to affordability, accessibility, or fear/no trust. Providing subsidised transport, introducing mobile surgical clinics or organising awareness raising campaigns are measures that could be implemented to overcome these barriers to surgical care.
ISSN:1472-6963
1472-6963
DOI:10.1186/s12913-017-2024-7