The Influence of Socioeconomic Status on Access to Quality Healthcare
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https://doi.org/10.48112/iijbs.v4i2.1254Abstract
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This study investigates the influence of socioeconomic status on access to quality healthcare services among adults residing in urban and peri-urban communities. Socioeconomic status, operationalized through indicators of household income, educational attainment, and occupational classification, has long been recognized as a fundamental social determinant of health that shapes individuals' ability to obtain timely, adequate, and high-quality medical care. This research employs a quantitative, cross-sectional survey design to examine the relationships between multiple dimensions of socioeconomic status and four indicators of healthcare access: availability of health insurance, frequency of preventive healthcare utilization, perceived quality of care received, and presence of financial barriers to seeking treatment. A structured questionnaire was administered to 100 adult participants selected through stratified random sampling from four neighborhoods representing distinct socioeconomic strata within a metropolitan area. The data were analyzed using descriptive statistics, chi-square tests of independence, Pearson correlation analysis, one-way analysis of variance (ANOVA), and multiple regression analysis. The findings reveal that household income is the strongest predictor of healthcare access (Beta = 0.41, p < 0.001), followed by educational attainment (Beta = 0.28, p < 0.01) and occupational classification (Beta = 0.19, p < 0.05). Individuals in the lowest income quartile were significantly less likely to possess health insurance (32% versus 89% in the highest quartile), reported significantly lower preventive care utilization, and rated the quality of care they received as substantially poorer. The regression model explained 47% of the variance in the composite healthcare access score. The study concludes that socioeconomic status exerts a profound and multidimensional influence on healthcare access and quality, perpetuating health inequities that disproportionately burden disadvantaged populations, and recommends policy interventions aimed at achieving universal health coverage, reducing out-of-pocket expenditures, and addressing the structural determinants of health disparities.
Keywords:
socioeconomic status, healthcare access, health disparities, income inequality, health insurance, preventive care, quality of care, social determinants of healthReferences
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