International Institute for Population Sciences
Deemed to be University (An Autonomous Organization of Ministry of Health & Family Welfare, Government of India)

Urbanization has been a major demographic shift in the world. India is also witnessing urbanization. Urbanization as a transformation affects many aspects of human, one such is human health. However, there is a dearth of evidence on the barriers to healthcare access among women in India.. This study is first attempt to examine the impact of population density on healthcare access by women. In present study we examine the impact of degree of urbanization on barriers to healthcare access faced by women. We incorporate a generalized additive model methodology to gain a deeper understanding of nonlinearity between population density and barriers to healthcare. First, we classified whole urban India into towns and cities using DEGURBA framework based on gridded population data. Second, we run a generalized additive model methodology to gain a deeper understanding of nonlinearity between population density and barriers to healthcare access. Increment in population density reduces barriers to healthcare access for women greater in towns than cities. Overall, we find that higher education and information index influences barriers to healthcare access for women negatively in both urban areas (cities and towns). Single status of women affects barriers to healthcare access negatively in cities and positively in towns. Household’s head status as female reduces barriers to healthcare access for women only in towns of India. Another anticipated finding was that, single women had greater barriers to healthcare than partnered women. Surprisingly, single women face lesser barriers to healthcare access than partnered women in cities of India. In towns, single women face higher barriers to healthcare access than partnered women. More effective government may be able to alleviate these downsides of urbanization in cities of India making investment in infrastructure (social and physical) to reduce barriers to healthcare access for women.