Bulletin of the World Health Organization

Equity in maternal and child health in Thailand

Supon Limwattananon, Viroj Tangcharoensathien & Phusit Prakongsai

Volume 88, Number 6, June 2010, 420-427

Table 2. Concentration index and ratio of richest to poorest quintile or decile for each indicator of maternal and child health, Thailand, 2005–2006

MCH indicator CI RR(quintile 5: quintile 1)a RR(decile 10: decile 1)b
I. Maternal health
Outcome indicator
1. Teenage pregnancy −0.1073*** 0.51*** 0.42***
Coverage indicator
2. Family planning −0.0005 0.99*** 1.07***
3. Prenatal care by skilled health worker 0.0078*** 1.05*** 1.08***
4. Delivery care
          By skilled health worker 0.0172*** 1.10*** 1.16***
          In health facility
 0.0173***
 1.10***
 1.15***
II. Child health
Outcome indicator
5. Low birth weight 0.0367 0.92*** 0.91***
6. Child malnourishment
          Underweight −0.2192*** 0.24*** 0.28***
          Stunting −0.1767*** 0.34*** 0.21***
          Wasting −0.0655 0.79*** 0.88***
7. Child illness
          Diarrhoea −0.0531* 0.65*** 0.53***
          Suspected pneumonia −0.0896** 0.60*** 0.60***
Coverage indicator
8. Child illness treatment
          ORS/ORT for diarrhoea 0.0220 1.22*** 1.30***
          Appropriate provider for pneumonia −0.0164 0.92*** 0.72***
9. Child immunization
          BCG −0.0104 0.94*** 0.93***
          MMR −0.0041 0.91*** 0.89***
          OPV 0.0002 0.99*** 1.02***
          DPT 0.0002 0.99*** 1.02***
          HBV −0.0052 0.97*** 1.03***

* P < 0.1; ** P < 0.05; *** P < 0.01.

BCG, bacille Calmette–Guérin; CI, concentration index; DPT, diphtheria, pertussis (whooping cough) and tetanus; HBV, hepatitis B virus; MCH, maternal and child health; MMR, measles, mumps and rubella; OPV, oral polio vaccine; ORS/ORT, oral rehydration salts/oral rehydration therapy; RR, risk ratio.

a Quintile 5 is the richest; quintile 1 is the poorest.

b Decile 10 is the richest; decile 1 is the poorest.