Publication Date

12-2013

Advisor(s) - Committee Chair

Dr. William Mkanta (Director), Dr. Cecilia Watkins, Dr. Frank W. Fan

Degree Program

Department of Public Health

Degree Type

Master of Health Administration

Abstract

Understanding the barriers to treatment for individuals with HIV/AIDS in developing countries could have a major impact on their ability to seek healthcare services. The purpose of this study is to quantitatively analyze the effect of daily activities and structural factors, which act as barriers to seeking health services for individuals living with HIV/AIDS in Tanzania.

The study is based on the hypothesis that (1) Individuals living with HIV/AIDS who face both personal and structural barriers have poor health compared to those not facing the barriers. (2) Individuals living with HIV/AIDS demonstrate different decisions and abilities to seek health services depending on their socioeconomic and clinical factors. A retrospective study design has been chosen for the current project. The source data-set comprises demographic and health surveys (DHS) in 2011-12 with N=839, male=661, female=178 the independent variables identified have been sub classified into, structural, personal, and socioeconomic groups. The data is analyzed using SPSS Statistical Package for Social Science, version 20. The data analysis shows the significant relationship between various variables included in the study such as owning livestock and frequency of eating meat in a week, distance from the health facility and the mode of transportation. We subdivided the data into these categories: urban, rural, male and female for further analysis. Based upon the results from the study, resources can be managed optimally so as to minimize costs and treatment delays / failures for individuals suffering with HIV/AIDS, especially in the context of developing world. These results could be applied to other developing countries as well. The global picture relates to maximizing the benefits and minimizing healthcare costs as a way to reducing morbidity and mortality in HIV/AIDS populations in developing countries.

Disciplines

Community Health and Preventive Medicine | Health Services Research | International Public Health | Public Health

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