Family support for women's health-seeking behavior: a qualitative study in rural southern Egypt (Upper Egypt).

This qualitative study investigated the influence of family support on women's health-seeking behavior in rural southern Egypt (Upper Egypt). We carried out separate focus group discussions (FGDs) with 3 groups (6 women with children under 5 years old, 6 men, and 4 elderly women, respectively) in a village in Assiut Governorate, an underprivileged region in Upper Egypt. The FGDs aimed to identify how different types of family support affected women's health-seeking behavior in areas including maternal health and common illnesses of women and children. Our results showed that maternal health issues were often discussed by husbands and wives, while mothers-in-law had little apparent influence. We also found that women could access support resources more easily than expected through their extended families. Our study showed that husbands had an important role in encouraging women's health in the family, while the effect of mothers-in-law on women's health-seeking behavior was not substantial. The study indicated that women received considerable support from co-resident family members, their natal family, and their neighbors, which helped women in seeking health services.

Barriers to the use of basic health services among women in rural southern Egypt (Upper Egypt).

This cross-sectional study examined potential demand-side barriers to women's use of basic health services in rural southern Egypt (Upper Egypt). Face-to-face interviews with a structured questionnaire were carried out on 205 currently-married women, inquiring about their use of health facilities: regular antenatal care (ANC) during the last pregnancy and medical treatment services when they suffered from common illness. Questions about their perceptions of barriers to the use of health services were categorized into three primary dimensions: structural, financial, and personal/cultural barriers. Distance and transportation to health facilities (structural barriers) prevented about 30 % of the women from seeing a doctor. Forty-two percent of them felt the difficulty paying for health services (financial barriers). Approximately a quarter of women answered that gaining family permission, allocating time to go to health facilities, or concern about lack of female physicians (personal/cultural barriers) was a big problem for them. After controlling for potential confounding factors, structural barriers showed an inverse association with the use of health services. Financial barriers indicated a strong association (OR=0.18, P<0.001) with the use of curative services (medical treatment), but not with the use of preventive services (regular ANC). Contrary to our expectation, personal/cultural barriers had no statistical significance with women's use of health services. Although the Egyptian government had successfully extended basic health service delivery networks throughout the country, women in rural Upper Egypt were still facing various barriers to the use of the services, especially structural and financial barriers.