The dimensions of women's autonomy and their relationship to maternal health care utilization were investigated in a probability sample of 300 women in Varanasi, India. We examined the determinants of women's autonomy in three areas: control over finances, decision-making power, and freedom of movement. After we control for age, education, household structure, and other factors, women with clos...

OBJECTIVE Provider communication that supports patient autonomy has been associated with numerous positive patient outcomes. However, to date, no research has examined the relationship between perceived provider communication style and patient-assessed decision quality in breast cancer. METHODS Using a population-based sample of women with localized breast cancer, we assessed patient percepti...

This study explores similarities and differences in the perceptions of rural Indian women and their husbands with regard to various dimensions of women's autonomy and investigates the extent to which various reproductive outcomes--contraception, unmet need, recent fertility, and spousal communication--are influenced by individual partners' views of women's autonomy. Data are drawn from a 1993-9...

like many developed and developing societies, iran has experienced sharp fertility declineand reached below- replacement level fertility. as women have a major role in childbearing,their empowerment and autonomy will lead to changes in their fertility behavior, and manystudies have focused on various aspects of women's autonomy and fertility. this paperexamines the relationship between wom...

Autonomy is considered essential for decision-making in a range of health care situations, from health care seeking and utilization to choosing among treatment options. Evidence suggests that women in developing or low-income countries often have limited autonomy and control over their health decisions. A review of the published empirical literature to identify definitions and methods used to m...

Delivering in health facility under the supervision of skilled birth attendant is an important way of mitigating impacts of delivery complications. Empirical evidence suggests that decision-making autonomy is aligned with holistic wellbeing especially in the aspect of maternal and child health. The objective of this paper was to examine the relationship between women's health decision-making au...

This paper investigates the determinants of female autonomy in Indonesia using the 2000 Indonesian Family Life Survey (IFLS3). We consider the role of kinship norms and the effect of labor force participation on female autonomy. Our measure of autonomy is based on self-reported answers to an array of questions relating to decision making authority in the household. They include economic and chi...

Methods We used the 2000 Pakistan Reproductive Health and Family Planning Survey, which interviewed a national sample of ever married women aged 15–49 years (n = 6579). Women's decision autonomy was estimated from 9 questions on who makes decisions at home; movement autonomy was based on 6 questions on whether women need permission to visit places outside home. A number of socio-demographic var...

BACKGROUND Women's decision-making autonomy in developing settings has been shown to improve child survival and health outcomes. However, little research has addressed possible connections between women's autonomy and children's schooling. OBJECTIVE To examine the relationship between rural women's decision-making autonomy and enrollment status of primary school-age children living in their h...

BACKGROUND Women's role has been a priority area not only for sustainable development, but also in reproductive health since ICPD 1994. However, very little empirical evidence is available about women's role on maternal health service utilization in Nepal. This paper explores dimensions of women's autonomy and their relationship to utilization of maternal health services. METHODS The analysis...