Methodological Evaluation of Community Health Centre Systems in Ethiopia Using Difference-in-Differences Approach to Measure Clinical Outcomes

Community health centres (CHCs) in Ethiopia play a crucial role in primary healthcare delivery. However, their effectiveness and impact on clinical outcomes have not been systematically evaluated. A difference-in-differences model will be applied to assess the effect of CHC implementation on patient health metrics, considering pre- and post-intervention data from randomly selected CHCs versus control areas. The analysis revealed a significant improvement in vaccination coverage rates (up to 20% higher) among children under five years old after CHC intervention compared to baseline levels. This study confirms the positive impact of CHCs on preventive healthcare measures, suggesting that further integration and support are necessary for sustained improvements. Policy makers should prioritise CHCs in their health system development plans and allocate resources accordingly. Future research could explore longitudinal effects and broader clinical outcomes. Community Health Centres, Difference-in-Differences, Clinical Outcomes, Ethiopia Treatment effect was estimated with logit(pᵢ)=β₀+β^ Xᵢ, and uncertainty reported using confidence-interval based inference.