Partner alcohol use and women’s access to healthcare services in India

Despite policy efforts to improve women’s health in India, many women continue to face barriers in accessing healthcare. While structural and socio-cultural determinants have been widely studied, behavioural factors, particularly those related to male partner characteristics, remain largely underexplored. This study examines whether partner-related alcohol characteristics are associated with women’s healthcare access barriers and whether this relationship is influenced by state-level alcohol control policies. We analysed data from the fifth round of India’s National Family Health Survey (NFHS-5), including 46,154 currently married women. The outcome was a binary indicator capturing whether women reported any barriers in accessing healthcare services. We used logistic model to assess the association between partner alcohol consumption and healthcare access barriers, adjusting for individual, partner, and household characteristics. Around 42% of women reported at least one barrier to care, and 27% had partners who consumed alcohol. Partner alcohol use was significantly associated with greater odds of reporting barriers (OR = 1.53; 95% CI: 1.19–1.97). Additionally, women in states with alcohol prohibition policies had lower odds of reporting barriers (OR = 0.94; 95% CI: 0.88–0.99), suggesting some policy effect. Male partner alcohol consumption is a significant behavioural determinant of women’s access to healthcare in India. The findings highlight that interventions targeting both partner behaviour and policy environments may be critical in reducing barriers to health care access in India.