Abstract
Background: Structural quality of maternal health services remains a key indicator of highly
performing health care system. Evidence attest to the fact that introduction of the new interventions in
the health care system does not necessarily lead into improvement of the target outcome, such as
quality of health services delivered. This study aimed at assessing the structural quality of maternal
health services prior to introduction of Direct Health Facility Financing (DHFF) program.
Methods: This was a cross-sectional study, conducted in 42 public primary health facilities between
January and mid February 2018. Observational were used to collect the data from health facilities.
The collected information was on privacy, hygiene and sanitation, obstetric emergences, sterilization,
maternal death audit reviews and waste management. Collected data were analyzed by using SPSS.
Results: All 42 (100%) primary health facilities that were assessed were public primary health
facilities, of which 14 (33.3%) were health centers and 28 were dispensaries. The furthest primary
health facilities from the district head office were 140 Kms and the nearest 2 Kms. Focusing on; -
privacy, hygiene and sanitation, obstetric emergences, sterilization, maternal death audit reviews and
waste management assessed eight areas of Structural qualities. Majority (68.9%) of Health Centers
has less than 39 skilled staff while some of them they have up to 129 health service providers and
majority (92.8%) of Dispensaries have less than 15 staff and some have 1 staff.
By comparing Dispensary and Health center performances on structural quality indicated relatively
low differences among the attributes assessed. Specifically, they did not show statistical significant
differences except for obstetric emergencies (p < .005), sterilization (p=. 034) and overall structural
quality (p=. 018). With regard to rural-urban performance on structural quality, there was no
statistical significant difference on total performance. Similarly, there was no significant differences
between rural and urban health facilities on other assessed attributes of structural quality (p >.05)
except for sterilization in which urban facilities performed significantly higher than the rural facilities
[M=41.2, SD=27.7, 61.3, SD=28.4, respectively (p= .028)]. On the other hand, marginal differences
were observed on individual assessed attributes. For examples, rural facilities performed relatively
higher than urban ones on privacy (41.2 and 32.0), maternal death reviews (31.4 and 30.7) and waste
management (49.0 and 47.3) respectively.
Kapologwe1, N (2021). The Structural Quality Of Maternal Health Services In Primary Health Care Facilities In Tanzania: Findings From A Baseline Study. Afribary. Retrieved from https://afribary.com/works/the-structural-quality-of-maternal-health-services-in-primary-health-care-facilities-in-tanzania-findings-from-a-baseline-study
Kapologwe1, Ntuli "The Structural Quality Of Maternal Health Services In Primary Health Care Facilities In Tanzania: Findings From A Baseline Study" Afribary. Afribary, 26 Apr. 2021, https://afribary.com/works/the-structural-quality-of-maternal-health-services-in-primary-health-care-facilities-in-tanzania-findings-from-a-baseline-study. Accessed 25 Dec. 2024.
Kapologwe1, Ntuli . "The Structural Quality Of Maternal Health Services In Primary Health Care Facilities In Tanzania: Findings From A Baseline Study". Afribary, Afribary, 26 Apr. 2021. Web. 25 Dec. 2024. < https://afribary.com/works/the-structural-quality-of-maternal-health-services-in-primary-health-care-facilities-in-tanzania-findings-from-a-baseline-study >.
Kapologwe1, Ntuli . "The Structural Quality Of Maternal Health Services In Primary Health Care Facilities In Tanzania: Findings From A Baseline Study" Afribary (2021). Accessed December 25, 2024. https://afribary.com/works/the-structural-quality-of-maternal-health-services-in-primary-health-care-facilities-in-tanzania-findings-from-a-baseline-study