Demographic and Health Surveys

Use of secondary DHS data precludes investigation of specific reasons for unmet needs, as financial, logistical, and cultural barriers cannot be disaggregated. The DHS age range of 15–49 partially restricts coverage of the WHO-recommended cervical cancer screening age range of 25–64. The simultaneous comparison of NCD and SRH unmet needs is identified as a gap addressed in the prior literature. The study analyzed data from 726,278 women aged 15–49 drawn from nationally representative DHS surveys conducted between 2017 and 2021 in six LMICs. India contributed 93.7% of the total sample, with each of the other five countries contributing 0.9–1.8%. The study applied multivariable logistic regression to assess associations between unmet needs and sociodemographic factors including age, education, employment, marital status, wealth quintile, healthcare access difficulty, health insurance, and internet use.