Women’s Reproductive Health Behaviors and Access to Reproductive Health Services During the COVID-19 Pandemic: Implications for Future Health Crisis Preparedness

Purpose: This study aimed to examine women’s reproductive health behaviors and access to reproductive health services during the COVID-19 pandemic and to identify sociodemographic factors associated with these outcomes.Methods: This descriptive study included 210 women aged 18–49 years in Türkiye. Data were collected using an online questionnaire covering sociodemographic characteristics, reproductive health behaviors, contraceptive use, and access to reproductive health services during the pandemic. Data were analyzed using descriptive statistics, Pearson chi-square tests, and binary logistic regression analysis.Results: The mean age of the participants was 32.34 ± 9.28 years. Over half reported barriers to visiting healthcare facilities (53.3%) and obtaining appointments (60.5%). Contraceptive use was 47.6%, while 88.1% reported difficulty accessing modern contraceptive methods. Among women who experienced pregnancy, 43.2% received antenatal care, and 44.4% of postpartum women received postnatal care. Contraceptive use was associated with health insurance and family type, whereas changes in sexual frequency were associated with place of residence. Healthcare access barriers were associated with health insurance, gynecological examination history, and childbearing plans. Binary logistic regression identified COVID-19 diagnosis as the only independent predictor of the absence of healthcare access barriers (OR=3.035, 95% CI: 1.526–6.035, p=0.002).Conclusion: The COVID-19 pandemic affected women’s reproductive health behaviors and access to reproductive healthcare services. Although several sociodemographic characteristics were associated with reproductive health behaviors and healthcare access in bivariate analyses, only COVID-19 diagnosis was independently associated with the absence of healthcare access barriers in the multivariable analysis. These findings highlight the importance of maintaining equitable and uninterrupted reproductive healthcare services during future public health emergencies.