COMPARATIVE ASSESSMENT OF PERCEIVED QUALITY OF ANTENATAL SERVICES AMONG INSURED AND UNINSURED PREGNANT WOMEN ATTENDING ANTENATAL CLINIC IN A TERTIARY HEALTH INSTITUTION, IN SOKOTO, NIGERIA.

Introduction: Access to quality antenatal care (ANC) is essential in reducing high maternal morbidity and mortality, especially in resource-poor countries. One way of ensuring financial accessibility to high-quality ANC services is through health insurance. This study assessed the perceived quality of services among insured and uninsured pregnant women attending the ANC at a tertiary health institution in Sokoto, Nigeria.

Methodology: A comparative cross-sectional study was carried out among 118 pregnant women selected via systematic sampling technique. Data were sought using a validated structured questionnaire and IBM SPSS version 25 was used for data analysis. Statistical significance was set at p < 0.05.

Result: Key socio-demographic variables (age, marital status, educational status) of the respondents were comparable concerning their health insurance status (p>0.05). Duration of registration time was significantly longer among the insured than the uninsured clients (p<0.001), however, time spent in waiting was comparable in both groups (p=0.936). Similarly, the ease of getting prescribed drugs and investigations was higher among uninsured compared to their insured counterparts (p<0.001). Clients in both groups were generally satisfied with the services received at the clinic, and there was no statistically significant difference between the two groups (p>0.05). No factor was found to be significantly associated with clients' satisfaction in both groups (p>0.05).

Conclusion: Insured clients spent considerably longer time in registration, laboratory, and in waiting to get their drugs after prescription. To reduce delay in obtaining investigation and prescribed drugs, a dedicated laboratory and pharmacy need to be provided within the antenatal clinic complex.