Unequal uptake of skilled maternal health care services in Ethiopia: cross-sectional data analyses informed by the intersectionality theory.

Objective: To investigate intersectional inequality encompassing socioeconomic, geographical and demographic variables in the use of competent birth and postnatal care services in Ethiopia.

Design: Data for the study came from a series of the Ethiopia Demographic and Health Surveys. Four major surveys were taken place between 2000 and 2016 and all were included in the study.

Explaining changes in educational disparities in competent maternal health care services in urban and rural areas in Ethiopia.

Introduction: Aggregate statistics of maternal health care services have improved in Ethiopia. Nevertheless, the country has one of the lowest Universal Health Coverage (UHC) service coverage indices, with slight improvement between 2000 and 2019. There are disparity studies that focus on a single dimension of inequality.

Decomposition analysis of women's empowerment-based inequalities in the use of maternal health care services in Ethiopia: Evidence from Demographic and Health Surveys.

Background: The use of maternal health care services tends to rise with women's empowerment. However, disparities in the use of maternal health care services in Ethiopia that are founded on women's empowerment are not sufficiently addressed. In light of women's empowerment equity stratifier, this study seeks to assess inequalities in the uptake of maternal health care services (early antenatal care, four or more antenatal care and postnatal care services).

Inequalities in childhood stunting: evidence from Sudan multiple indicator cluster surveys (2010-2014).

Background: Leaving no one behind has been an important marker of the Sustainable Development Goals. Closing the gap in malnutrition between children of different backgrounds aligns well with the tenet of this international agenda. To this end, high-quality evidence of the magnitude and trends of socioeconomic and geographic related existing inequalities in the childhood stunting among Sudanese children emanate from this study help for policy maker and planners to design and implement effective interventions to narrow down inequality.

Socioeconomic, sex and area related inequalities in childhood stunting in Mauritania: Evidence from the Mauritania Multiple Indicator Cluster Surveys (2007-2015).

Introduction: The prevalence of stunting in under five children is high in Mauritania. However, there is a paucity of evidence on the extent and the overtime alteration of inequality in stunting. To this end, we did this study to investigate stunting inequality and the change with time using three rounds of Mauritania Multiple Indicator Cluster Surveys.

Sub-regional disparities in the use of antenatal care service in Mauritania: findings from nationally representative demographic and health surveys (2011-2015).

Background: Skilled antenatal care (ANC) has been identified as a proven intervention to reducing maternal deaths. Despite improvements in maternal health outcomes globally, some countries are signaling increased disparities in ANC services among disadvantaged sub-groups. Mauritania is one of sub-Saharan countries in Africa with a high maternal mortality ratio.

Observed magnitude and trends in socioeconomic and geographic area inequalities in obesity prevalence among non-pregnant women in Chad: evidence from three waves of Chad demographic and health surveys.

Background: While the prevalence of obesity is increasing worldwide, the growing rates of overweight and obesity in developing countries are disquieting. Obesity is widely recognized as a risk factor for non-communicable diseases (NCDs), including diabetes, cancer and cardiovascular diseases. Available evidence on whether obesity has been more prevalent among higher or lower socioeconomic groups, across regions and urban-rural women's are inconsistent.

Trends in socio-economic, sex and geographic disparities in childhood underweight in Mauritania: evidence from Multiple Indicator Cluster Surveys (2007-2015).

Background: Underweight is one of the largest contributors to child morbidity and mortality and is considered to be the largest contributor to the global burden of diseases in low-and middle-income countries. In Mauritania, where one-fifth of children are underweight, there is a dearth of evidence on socio-economic, sex and geographic disparities in childhood underweight. As a result, this study aimed at investigating the socio-economic, sex and geographic disparities in childhood underweight in Mauritania.

Urban-rural disparities in wife-beating attitude among married women: a decomposition analysis from the 2017 Senegal Continuous Demographic and Health Survey.

Background: Globally, intimate partner violence is one of the most common forms of gender-based violence, and wife beating is one component of intimate partner violence, with the problem being more severe among women living in rural settings. Little is known about the factors that explain the urban-rural disparity in the prevalence of wife beating attitude in Senegal. In this paper, we aimed to decompose the urban-rural disparities in factors associated with wife beating attitude among married women in Senegal.

Women empowerment and uptake of antenatal care services : A meta-analysis of Demographic and Health Surveys from 33 Sub-Saharan African countries.

Background: Women empowerment has been linked to increased skilled antenatal care (ANC) service use. However, there is no evidence on the net effect of women empowerment on ANC in the Sub-saharan African (SSA) region. We aim to address the knowledge gap on whether or not women empowerment positively influences the uptake of ANC at the SSA regional level.

Socioeconomic, urban-rural and sex-based inequality in infant mortality rate: evidence from 2013 Yemen demographic and health survey.

Background: The occurrence of Infant Mortality Rate (IMR) varied globally with most of the cases coming from developing countries including Yemen. The disparity in IMR in Yemen however, has not been well dealt and therefore we examined the IMR inequality based on the most reliable methodology in order to generate evidence-based information for some program initiatives in Yemen.

Methods: Based on the World Health Organization (WHO) Health Equity Assessment Toolkit (HEAT) software, we analyzed the inequality across the different inequality dimensions in Yemen.

Summary measures of socioeconomic and area-based inequalities in fertility rates among adolescents: evidence from Ethiopian demographic and health surveys 2000-2016.

Background: One of the highest rates of adolescent pregnancies in the world is in sub-Saharan Africa. Most adolescent pregnancies in the region are unintended or unwanted, due to poor access to information and services on sexual and reproductive health for adolescents. Ethiopia has high adolescent fertility rates (AFR) with disparities across socioeconomic subgroups and regions.

Predictors of skilled birth attendance among married women in Cameroon: further analysis of 2018 Cameroon Demographic and Health Survey.

Background: In Cameroon, maternal deaths remain high. The high maternal deaths in the country have been attributed to the low utilization of maternal healthcare services, including skilled birth attendance. This study examined the predictors of skilled birth services utilization among married women in Cameroon.

Time trends in socio-economic, urban-rural and regional disparities in prevalence of obesity among non-pregnant women in Lesotho: evidence from Lesotho demographic and health surveys (2004-2014).

Background: The growing rates of obesity in developing countries are alarming. There is a paucity of evidence about disparities of obesity in Lesotho. This study examined socioeconomic and area-based inequalities in obesity among non-pregnant women in Lesotho.

Trends of inequalities in care seeking behavior for under-five children with suspected pneumonia in Ethiopia: evidence from Ethiopia demographic and health surveys (2005-2016).

Background: Pneumonia is a leading public health problem in under-five children worldwide and particularly in Africa. Unfortunately, progress in reducing pneumonia related mortality has been slow. The number of children with symptoms of pneumonia taken to health facilities for treatment is low in Ethiopia, and disparities among sub-groups regarding health seeking behavior for pneumonia have not been well explored in the region.

Time trends, geographical, socio-economic, and gender disparities in neonatal mortality in Burundi: evidence from the demographic and health surveys, 2010-2016.

Background: Programmatic and research agendas surrounding neonatal mortality are important to help countries attain the child health related 2030 Sustainable Development Goal (SDG). In Burundi, the Neonatal Mortality Rate (NMR) is 25 per 1000 live births. However, high quality evidence on the over time evolution of inequality in NMR is lacking.

Regional variations and socio-economic disparities in neonatal mortality in Angola: a cross-sectional study using demographic and health surveys.

Background: Inequalities in neonatal mortality rates (NMRs) in low- and middle-income countries show key disparities at the detriment of disadvantaged population subgroups. There is a lack of scholarly evidence on the extent and reasons for the inequalities in NMRs in Angola.

Objective: The aim of this study was to assess the socio-economic, place of residence, region and gender inequalities in the NMRs in Angola.

Social inequality in infant mortality in Angola: Evidence from a population based study.

Introduction: Within country inequality in infant mortality poses a big challenge for countries moving towards the internationally agreed upon targets on child mortality by 2030. There is a lack of high-quality evidence on infant mortality measured through different dimensions of social inequality in Angola. Thus, this paper was carried out to address the knowledge gap by conducting in-depth examination of infant mortality rate (IMR) inequality among population subgroups to provide more nuanced evidence to help end IMR disparity in the country.

Inequality in fertility rate among adolescents: evidence from Timor-Leste demographic and health surveys 2009-2016.

Background: Despite a decline in global adolescent birth rate, many countries in South East Asia still experience a slower pace decline in adolescent birth rates. Timor-Leste is one of the countries in the region with the highest adolescent birth rate and huge disparities between socio-economic subgroups. Hence, this study assessed the magnitude and trends in adolescent fertility rates within different socio-demographic subgroups in Timor-Leste.

Prevalence of and socioeconomic gradient in low birth weight in Ethiopia: further analysis of the 2016 demographic and health survey data.

Background: Evidence suggests appearance of socioeconomic gradient in the probability of low birth weight (LBW). Such evidence, however, is scanty in Ethiopia. The study aimed to examine the prevalence of and socioeconomic gradient in LBW in Ethiopia.

Magnitude and trends in socio-economic and geographic inequality in access to birth by cesarean section in Tanzania: evidence from five rounds of Tanzania demographic and health surveys (1996-2015).

Background: Majority of maternal deaths are avoidable through quality obstetric care such as Cesarean Section (CS). However, in low-and middle-income countries, many women are still dying due to lack of obstetric services. Tanzania is one of the African countries where maternal mortality is high.

Factors affecting the utilization of antenatal care services among women in Guinea: a population-based study.

Introduction: Evidence suggests that a better understanding of determinants of antenatal care (ANC) utilization is crucial to reducing maternal and child deaths. Little is known about the utilization of ANC services in Guinea.

Objective: The aim of this study was to explore factors determining utilization of skilled ANC in Guinea.

Socioeconomic and geographic variations in antenatal care coverage in Angola: further analysis of the 2015 demographic and health survey.

Background: In African countries, including Angola, antenatal care (ANC) coverage is suboptimal and maternal mortality is still high due to pregnancy and childbirth-related complications. There is evidence of disparities in the uptake of ANC services, however, little is known about both the socio-economic and geographic-based disparity in the use of ANC services in Angola. The aim of this study was to assess the extent of socio-economic, urban-rural and subnational inequality in ANC coverage in Angola.