Absolute income is a better predictor of coverage by skilled birth attendance than relative wealth quintiles in a multicountry analysis: comparison of 100 low- and middle-income countries.

ABSTRACT: BACKGROUND:Having high-quality data available by 2020, disaggregated by income, is one of the Sustainable Development Goals (SGD). We explored how well coverage with skilled birth attendance (SBA) is predicted by asset-based wealth quintiles and by absolute income. METHODS:We used data from 293 national surveys conducted in 100 low and middle-income countries (LMICs) from 1991 to 2014. Data on household income were computed using national income levels and income inequality data available from the World Bank and the Standardized World Income Inequality Database. Multivariate regression was used to explore the predictive capacity of absolute income compared to the traditional measure of quintiles of wealth index. RESULTS:The mean SBA coverage was 68.9% (SD: 24.2), compared to 64.7% (SD: 26.

SUBMITTER: Joseph G 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC5902965 | biostudies-literature | 2018 Apr

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature