Regional disparities of health center utilization in rural Indonesia

One indicator to see the quality of health system performance was to look at the disparity in the utilization of healthcare facilities. The research objective was to analyze the disparity between regions in the utilization of health centers in rural areas in Indonesia. The results of the 2013 Basic Health Survey (Riskesdas) were used as analysis material. The 2013 Riskesdas was designed a cross-sectional survey. Respondents obtained 388,598 using the multi-stage cluster random sampling method. Binary Logistic Regression Test was used to analyze data. Data is obtained through a structured questionnaire. The results showed that there were statistically significant disparities between regions. All regions showed better utilization than the Papua region as a reference. The best utilization was in the Sumatra region, which was 3.781 times more utilizing health centers than the Papua region (OR = 3.781; 95% CI = 3.580-3.993). The utilization of health centres that approached the Papua region was the Nusa Tenggara region (OR = 1.582; 95% CI = 1.490-1.679) and the Maluku region (OR = 2.175; 95% 1.999-2.366). All three regions are all in the Eastern part of Indonesia. The research concluded there was a disparity in health center utilization between regions in rural Indonesia. Regions in the western part of Indonesia tend to have better health center utilization in rural areas. Research results could be used as a reference for making policies that focus on equality of services to reduce existing disparities.