# Patterns in Women's Unmet Sexual and Reproductive Healthcare Needs Over the Life Course

> **NIH NIH F31** · TRUSTEES OF INDIANA UNIVERSITY · 2024 · $48,974

## Abstract

ABSTRACT
 Unmet sexual and reproductive healthcare (SRH) needs are a significant problem in the United States and
are associated with a broad spectrum of negative sexual and reproductive health outcomes. Consequently, it is
essential to understand the factors associated with unmet SRH needs and the characteristics of women who are
most vulnerable to unmet SRH needs. Existing research has been limited in two ways. First, quantitative research
on unmet SRH needs is often constrained by a lack of available information on women who do not receive care,
by virtue of their absence from care. Second, the paucity of robust, longitudinal data has prohibited researchers’
ability to specify how SRH experiences (and unmet needs) are connected throughout women’s lives.
 The objective of this project is to elucidate the connection between unmet SRH needs over time and to
identify the factors associated with and disparities in levels of unmet SRH needs over time. To do so, this project
will leverage an innovative mixed-methods dataset from the Person to Person (P2P) Health Interview study, a
large omnibus health study, including: (1) new in-depth interviews with reproductive-aged women in the P2P
sample (N=40), (2) linked electronic health records (EHR) of women in the P2P sample (N=1,462), and (3)
associated P2P survey data.
 To achieve the overall objective, the proposed project addresses two specific aims. Aim 1: Identify women’s
perceptions of unmet SRH needs across their lives and the conditions that contribute to those unmet needs
using in-depth interviews guided by participant’s EHR. These interviews will elicit women’s narratives of their
experiences with SRH over time and contextualize SRH events in their EHR with information about their social
circumstances and the connections between each experience and subsequent SRH utilization decisions.
Furthermore, these interviews will identify instances of unmet need and utilization not included in the EHR. Aim
2: Classify patterns in SRH usage over time using sequence analysis to compare (2a) factors and resources
associated with unmet SRH needs and (2b) sociodemographic disparities in patterns of SRH utilization. I will
evaluate the elements in each pattern against standards of preventative and acute care and women’s accounts
of their unmet needs (gathered in Aim 1) to assess the level of unmet need. I will use multinomial logistic
regression to examine the association between (a) measures of predisposing factors and enabling resources
(healthcare access, racism, trust in doctors, and social support), (b) sociodemographic characteristics and
patterns of SRH utilization with differing levels of unmet SRH need. Results from this study will generate valuable
information that can be used to develop targeted interventions to reduce unmet SRH needs, eliminate racial and
socioeconomic disparities in SRH utilization, and improve sexual and reproductive health outcomes over
women’s lives.

## Key facts

- **NIH application ID:** 10883556
- **Project number:** 5F31HD110259-02
- **Recipient organization:** TRUSTEES OF INDIANA UNIVERSITY
- **Principal Investigator:** Elizabeth Marie Anderson
- **Activity code:** F31 (R01, R21, SBIR, etc.)
- **Funding institute:** NIH
- **Fiscal year:** 2024
- **Award amount:** $48,974
- **Award type:** 5
- **Project period:** 2023-06-05 → 2026-06-04

## Primary source

NIH RePORTER: https://reporter.nih.gov/project-details/10883556

## Citation

> US National Institutes of Health, RePORTER application 10883556, Patterns in Women's Unmet Sexual and Reproductive Healthcare Needs Over the Life Course (5F31HD110259-02). Retrieved via AI Analytics 2026-05-24 from https://api.ai-analytics.org/grant/nih/10883556. Licensed CC0.

---

*[NIH grants dataset](/datasets/nih-grants) · CC0 1.0*