Equity of inpatient health care in rural Tanzania: a population- and facility-based survey.

Objective: To explore the equity of utilization of inpatient health care at rural Tanzanian health centers through the use of a short wealth questionnaire.

Methods: Patients admitted to four rural health centers in the Kigoma Region of Tanzania from May 2008 to May 2009 were surveyed about their illness, asset ownership and demographics. Principal component analysis was used to compare the wealth of the inpatients to the wealth of the region's general population, using data from a previous population-based survey.