Evidence map›Paper›PMID 41775476›Full record

ArticleBMJ open2026

Determinants of barriers to accessing healthcare services among married women in Somalia: a multilevel analysis of nationwide survey data.

Abdirasak Sharif Ali, Yahye Sheikh Abdulle Hassan, Mohamed Mustaf Ahmed, Mohamed Abdirahim Omar

Abstract read
In one paragraph

Article in BMJ open, 2026. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 1 paper.

0numbers the graph read from it
0cells of the map it votes in
1citing papers in PubMed
–field-weighted citation impact
1 · What the graph read from it

What it found

Each row is one number read from the abstract, on the scale the paper reported it, with its interval. Left of the dashed line favours the treatment, right favours the comparator. Under each row is the sentence it came from. New to these charts? A ten-minute tutorial.

The abstract states no effect estimate the extractor could read, or names no intervention and outcome on the map, so this paper lights no cell and moves no belief. It is still indexed, cited and linked below.

2 · The registry

The trial behind it

Trials whose registry record cites this paper, or whose number appears in the abstract. A trial that started after this paper was published is citing it as background, not reporting it.

Neither the registry nor the abstract names a trial number. If this is a trial report, that itself is worth knowing.

3 · Its place in the literature

Who cites it

1 citing paper in PubMed.

  1. Article
4 · The record

Corrections and comments

PubMed lists nothing against this paper. Absence here is not a guarantee, only a check that was made.

5 · Who and what money

Authors and funding

4 authors.

Abdirasak Sharif AliDepartment of Microbiology and Laboratory Sciences, Faculty of Medicine and Health Sciences, SIMAD University, Mogadishu, Banaadir, Somalia.ORCID http://orcid.org/0000-0001-5546-5778
Yahye Sheikh Abdulle HassanJamhuriya University of Science and Technology, Faculty of Medicine and Health Sciences, Mogadishu, Banaadir, Somalia.ORCID http://orcid.org/0000-0002-2578-3000
Mohamed Mustaf AhmedSIMAD Institute for Global Health, SIMAD University, Mogadishu, Somalia.ORCID http://orcid.org/0009-0006-5991-4052
Mohamed Abdirahim OmarFaculty of Health Sciences, Salaam University, Mogadishu, Somalia alraxiim33@gmail.com.ORCID http://orcid.org/0009-0003-5933-3846

Funding

No grant is acknowledged in the PubMed record.

6 · The paper itself

Abstract

objectivesTo identify the individual and community-level factors associated with barriers to accessing healthcare services among currently married women in Somalia.

designA cross-sectional analysis using data from the 2020 Somalia Demographic and Health Survey.

settingSomalia.

participantsA nationally representative sample of 30 311 currently married women aged 15-49 years with complete data on outcome and explanatory variables. PRIMARY OUTCOME MEASURES: The primary outcome was 'reporting at least one barrier to accessing healthcare', a composite binary variable based on four specific problems: obtaining permission to go for treatment, getting money for treatment, distance to the health facility and not wanting to go alone.

resultsA substantial majority (77.06%) of married women reported experiencing at least one barrier to accessing healthcare. Financial cost was the most common barrier (69.91%), followed by distance to health facilities (65.95%), reluctance to go alone (49.64%) and the requirement for permission (46.03%). Multilevel analysis confirmed that higher household wealth was strongly protective (richest vs poorest: adjusted OR (aOR)=0.27, 95% CI 0.24 to 0.32). Paradoxically, factors typically considered protective were associated with increased barriers: women with secondary education (aOR=1.19, 95% CI 1.00 to 1.41) and those with educated husbands (aOR=1.23, 95% CI 1.14 to 1.33) reported more obstacles. Similarly, urban residents faced higher odds of barriers than their nomadic counterparts (aOR=1.40, 95% CI 1.27 to 1.55). Significant regional disparities were evident, with community-level context explaining 26.30% of the total variance in reporting barriers.

conclusionAccess to healthcare for married women in Somalia is predominantly hindered by economic, educational and community-level constraints. Targeted interventions addressing socioeconomic disparities, infrastructural deficits and specific community contexts are essential to alleviate these barriers.

Indexed as

Health Services AccessibilityMarriageAdolescentAdultCross-Sectional StudiesFemaleHealth SurveysHumansMiddle AgedMultilevel AnalysisSocioeconomic FactorsSomaliaYoung AdultHEALTH ECONOMICSHealth policyHealth Services Accessibility

Identifiers

PMID41775476
PMCPMC12959019

What Socratic holds

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LicenceCC BY-NC
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Registered trials

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Read under generation 80e0d062 · epoch 390. Bibliography from PubMed, PubMed Central and OpenAlex; grants from NIH RePORTER; trial links from ClinicalTrials.gov; estimates, votes and beliefs from the Socratic graph.