Micro-econometric Analysis of the Determinants of socio-economic in the use of basic health services in Senegal

Abstract

Background: In spite of social and economic interventions, state health policies have not yet succeeded in providing households in poor and low-income areas with better chances of survival and better chances of using health services. Health services are part of a larger structure called the health system. The health system is made up of all the elements that determine the health status of a population. The starting point of the health system is the population and more specifically the identification of the health needs of that population.

The objective of this paper is to assess the influence of the different factors determining the use of health services in Senegal.

Health inequities undermine the lives and futures of all vulnerable groups by creating systems of social injustice.

Methods: Since the outcome variable was a dichotomous variable, a discrete choice model was employed to show how the explanatory variables correlated with the outcome variable. Specifically, the binary logistic regression was employed given that this technique is more appropriate for dichotomous variables. A key assumption underlying the binary logistic regression model is that the dependent variable should be dichotomous in nature and the data should not have any outlier.

Results: The results showed that the main finding of the study is that low educational attainment has significant negative effects on health service utilization. In fact, educational attainment is one of the key determinants of health.

Household economic status, which was grouped into four representative modalities form the three explanatory variables, and each of the individuals classified according to these modalities through their income strongly influences the decision to go to the hospital.