@article{article_336588, title={IS ANTENATAL CLINIC ATTENDANCE A PROXIMATE DETERMINANT OF USE OF MODERN HEALTHCARE FACILITY FOR DELIVERY BY NIGERIAN WOMEN?}, journal={IJASOS- International E-journal of Advances in Social Sciences}, volume={3}, pages={391–400}, year={2017}, DOI={10.18769/ijasos.336588}, url={https://izlik.org/JA97GM33FU}, author={Fagbeminiyi, Fasina F. and Oni, Gbolahan A.}, keywords={Underlying Factors,Antenatal Clinic Attendance,Proximate Determinants,Healthcare Facility Delivery,Nigeria}, abstract={<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-top:6.0pt;margin-right:0cm;margin-bottom:6.0pt; margin-left:0cm;text-align:justify;line-height:normal;mso-pagination:none; tab-stops:-9.0pt 12.0pt 36.0pt;mso-layout-grid-align:none;text-autospace:none"> A proximate determinant of an outcome (or event) is a variable (or factor) that produces a direct effect on that outcome. It can act as an intermediary variable through which other variables (or factors) which have indirect effects on the same outcome variable operate to exhibit their effects. Socioeconomic, demographic and cultural factors (also called background or underlying factors) are known to have indirect effects on whether or not a pregnant woman would choose to deliver her baby in a healthcare facility. The background or underlying factors of the women can also determine if they will attend or not attend antenatal clinic during pregnancy. However, antenatal clinic attendance also has direct effect on a woman’s use of healthcare facility to deliver her baby. <o:p> </o:p> <p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-top:6.0pt;margin-right:0cm;margin-bottom:6.0pt; margin-left:0cm;text-align:justify;line-height:normal;mso-pagination:none; tab-stops:-9.0pt 12.0pt 36.0pt;mso-layout-grid-align:none;text-autospace:none"> In this study we examined whether or not antenatal clinic attendance is a major proximate determinant of use of healthcare facility for delivery by Nigerian women. However, the study shows that antenatal care visits had a very strong direct effect on mothers’ delivery in healthcare facilities. The study used quantitative data from the 2008 Nigeria Demographic and Health Surveys (NDHS).Mothers were asked to indicate where they delivered their last babies (i.e., in Healthcare Facility or outside the healthcare facility)and also the number of antenatal visits they attended during the pregnancy. A mother that had four or more visits during the pregnancy was considered to have had adequate number of visits and those who did not attend at all or attended for less than four times were considered not to have had adequate attendance. Information was also collected on the socio-economic and demographic characteristics of the women. <o:p> </o:p> <p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-top:6.0pt;margin-right:0cm;margin-bottom:6.0pt; margin-left:0cm;text-align:justify;line-height:normal;mso-pagination:none; tab-stops:-9.0pt 12.0pt 36.0pt;mso-layout-grid-align:none;text-autospace:none"> The data analyzed consisted of 17,635 women aged 15-49 years who had a live birth within the five years preceding the survey Stata 12 computer software was used to carry outdataanalyses.Data analyses wereatunivariate, bivariate andmultivariate levels. Due to the dichotomous nature of the outcome variable (i.e., whether a child was delivered in a healthcare facility or not; coded as (1, 0)),  the multivariate analyses technique used is Binary Logistic Regression, and Likelihood Ratio (LR) statistical test of significance was applied. <o:p> </o:p> <p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-top:6.0pt;margin-right:0cm;margin-bottom:6.0pt; margin-left:0cm;text-align:justify;line-height:normal;mso-pagination:none; tab-stops:-9.0pt 12.0pt 36.0pt;mso-layout-grid-align:none;text-autospace:none"> Results from bivariate analysis indicated that the background (underlying) factors of the women (i.e., age, children ever born, region of residence, educational level, wealth index status, and religion)  all have significant association with the number of antenatal visits made by mothers during their last pregnancy (P < 0.001). Similarly, antenatal clinic attendance has significant relationship with delivery in healthcare facility (P < 0.001). <o:p> </o:p> <p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-top:6.0pt;margin-right:0cm;margin-bottom:6.0pt; margin-left:0cm;text-align:justify;line-height:normal;mso-pagination:none; tab-stops:-9.0pt 12.0pt 36.0pt;mso-layout-grid-align:none;text-autospace:none"> The binary logistic regression which includes all the six background variables and antennal clinic attendance (i.e., the proximate determinant) indicated a highly significant contribution to the model chi-square statistic. Women who had adequate number of antenatal clinic visits were about four times more likely to deliver thei}, number={8}