Relationship between structural social determinants of health and women's empowerment in reproductive health

Empowering women means enabling them to decide independently on the basic issues of life. The great challenge of fertility and reproductive health of women is indicative of their inability to make decisions. The third objective of the Millennium Development Goals is empowerment of women and the effect of social determinants of health in this regard has been recognized. This study was conducted to assess the relationship between structural social determinants of health and women''s empowerment in reproductive health.

This was a descriptive-correlation study including 400 women consulting the Shahid-Beheshti University of Medical Sciences health centers in Tehran، Iran. In the first stage، the health centers were selected by the simple random method، followed by quota sampling; the f inal sampling was done by the convenience sampling method. The tools for data collection were demographic and socio-economic questionnaires، as well as a questionnaire to obtain data on women''s empowerment in reproductive health. Data were analyzed using SPSS-17.

That data showed that the women’s empowerment in reproductive health was at an intermediate level. Structural social determinants of health were correlated with women’s empowerment in reproductive health; the highest correlation was found to be with women’s education level (r= 0. 44، P< 0. 001).

Women''s general empowerment، as well as their empowerment and in family planning needs special attention. Structural social determinants of health are correlated with women''s empowerment in reproductive health. Thus، policies should be adopted and plans executed aiming at strengthening the role of women in the family and the society.