Dataset Information

Health Care Seeking Behavior in Southwest Ethiopia.

ABSTRACT: BACKGROUND:Rural and urban populations have disparate socio-demographic and economic characteristics, which have an influence on equity and their health seeking behavior. We examined and compared the health care seeking behavior for perceived morbidity between urban and rural households in Southwest Ethiopia. METHODS:Analytic cross-sectional study was conducted among urban and rural households living in Esera district of Southwest Ethiopia. A random sample of 388 head of households (126 urban and 262 rural) were selected. A pretested and structured questionnaire was used for data collection with face-to-face interview. In addition to descriptive methods, binary logistic regression was used to identify factors associated with health seeking behavior at p value of less than 0.05. RESULTS:Of the sample household heads, 377 (97.2%) (119 urban and 258 rural) were successfully interviewed. Among these, 58.4% (95% CI, 53.3-63.3%) of the households sought care from modern health care that was lower among rural (48.1%) than urban (80.7%) households. The prevalence of self-treatment was 35.3% in urban and 46.1% in rural households. Among the factors considered for modern health care utilization, higher monthly income (AOR, 5.6; 95% CI, 2.04-15.4), perceived severity of disease (AOR, 2.5; 95% CI, 1.1-5.8), acute duration of disease (AOR, 8.9; 95% CI, 2.4-33.3) and short distance from health facilities (AOR, 3; 95% CI, 1.2-8.4) among rural and being married (AOR, 11.3; 95% CI, 1.2-110.2) and perceived severity of disease (AOR, 6.6; 95% CI, 1.1-10.9) among urban households showed statistically significant association. CONCLUSIONS:The general health seeking behavior of households on perceived morbidity was satisfactory but lower in rural compared to urban households. Self-medication was also widely practiced in the study area. The findings signal the need to work more on accessibility and promotion of healthcare seeking behavior especially among rural households.

SUBMITTER: Begashaw B

PROVIDER: S-EPMC5023186 | biostudies-other | 2016

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-other

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Health Care Seeking Behavior in Southwest Ethiopia.

Begashaw Bayu B Tessema Fasil F Gesesew Hailay Abrha HA

PloS one 20160914 9

<h4>Background</h4>Rural and urban populations have disparate socio-demographic and economic characteristics, which have an influence on equity and their health seeking behavior. We examined and compared the health care seeking behavior for perceived morbidity between urban and rural households in Southwest Ethiopia.<h4>Methods</h4>Analytic cross-sectional study was conducted among urban and rural households living in Esera district of Southwest Ethiopia. A random sample of 388 head of household ...[more]

PMID: 27626804

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Project description:BackgroundEven though health care seeking interventions potentially reduce child mortality from easily treatable diseases, significant numbers of children die without ever reaching a health facility or due to delays in seeking care in Ethiopia. This study aimed to assess health care seeking behavior for common childhood illnesses and associated factors.MethodsA community-based cross-sectional study was conducted in Jeldu District from January to February 2011. A systematic sampling method was used for sample selection. Data were collected from 422 caregivers with under-five children who experienced diseases within six weeks before the survey. Interviewer administered structured and pre-tested questionnaire which were used to collect data. Data entry and cleaning were carried out using Epi Info version 3.5.1 and analyzed using SPSS version 16. Descriptive analysis was done to determine the magnitude of health care seeking behavior. Multivariate logistic regression analyses were performed to identify associated factors.ResultsA total of 422 caregivers of under-five children were participated in the study giving an overall response rate of 97.5%. Three hundred fifteen (74.6%) children sought care from health facilities for all conditions. However, only 55.4% of them were taken to health facilities as first source treatment during their illness and prompt care was also very low (13.7%). Marital status of the caregivers (AOR = 2.84; 95%CI: 1.62-4.98), number of symptoms experienced by the child (AOR = 2.04; 95%CI: 1.24-3.36) and perceived severity of the illness (AOR = 3.20; 95%CI: 1.96-5.22) were predictors of health care seeking behavior.ConclusionHealth care seeking behavior for childhood illnesses was delayed and decision to seek care from health facilities was influenced by worsening of the illnesses. Thus, community level promotion of prompt health care seeking is essential to enhance the health care seeking behavior for child hood illnesses in the locality.

Project description:BackgroundHealth seeking behavior is one of the challenges affecting tuberculosis (TB) control program because of its high risk to prolonged diseases transmission and poor treatment outcome. Although there are few primary studies that reported diversified magnitudes of health seeking behavior among presumptive TB patients in Ethiopia, there is no review study that attempted to summarize the available evidence. Thus, this review was aimed to estimate the proportion of health care seeking behavior from health facility and to summarize the reasons why individuals with presumptive TB are not seeking health care in Ethiopia.MethodA systematic review and meta-analysis study was conducted on primary studies that reported proportion of health seeking behavior among presumptive TB patients. Electronic databases: PubMed, Google Scholar and Science Direct were searched to retrieve studies published in English language from Ethiopia without restricting publication year. In addition, bibliographies of included studies were also screened to retrieve potential studies. The keywords "health seeking", "health seeking behavior", "TB suspects" and "presumptive TB" were used both in Medical Subject Heading (MeSH) and free text. Random effects meta-analysis model was used to estimate the pooled proportions of health care seeking and not seeking behaviors. Stata version 14 was used for data analysis.ResultFive studies which involved 3230 patients with presumptive TB were included into this review. The pooled estimated proportion of health care seeking behavior among presumptive TB patients from health facilities was 65% (95% CI, 54-76%), while the pooled proportion of not seeking health care from any sources was 17% (95% CI;6-27%). In addition, 18% (95% CI; 5-30%) of presumptive TB patients were seeking health care from inappropriate sources. Being female, younger age, low income status, absence of previous TB treatment history, low education status were the risk factors that associated with low health care seeking behavior.ConclusionConsiderable proportion of patients with presumptive TB were not seeking health care from health facilities or seeks care from inappropriate sources in Ethiopia. Implementing efforts that could improve health care seeking behavior is vital to prevent prolonged disease transmission through immediate treatment commencement.

Project description:BackgroundSubstantial progress has been made in reducing child mortality over the last decades, however the magnitude of the problem is yet high globally Appropriate health care-seeking behavior of mothers/guardians for common childhood illnesses could prevent a significant number of child deaths and complications due to childhood illnesses, currently, there is few of studies in Ethiopia. Therefore, this study aimed to assess mothers/caregivers health care seeking behavior for their children in Northwest Ethiopia.MethodsCommunity based cross-sectional study of rural mothers living in Aneded district from February to March 2016. Data were collected using structured questionnaire by an interviewer. Bivariate and multivariable logistic regression analyses were performed to identify factors associated with health care seeking behavior. Variables having P value ≤0.2 in the bivariate analysis were considered for multivariable analysis. P-value less than 0.05 was used to declare that there was statistically significant association. Odds Ratio (OR) with 95% confidence interval (CI) was used to determine the strength and direction of association.ResultA total of 410 mothers participated in this study. Among 48.8% (95% CI: 44, 53.6%) had sought health care, only 27% sought health care within a day. Having awareness of childhood illness (AOR = 3.8, 95% CI: 2.18-6.72), perceived importance of early treatment (AOR = 3.5, 95% CI: 2.00-6.07) and child age < 24 months (AOR = 1.7, 95% CI: 1.08-2.68) and illness not being perceived as severe (AOR:= 0.17, 95% CI: 0.09-0.30) were all factors associated with mothers healthcare seeking behavior during their child illness.ConclusionOverall health care seeking behavior level was low. Awareness, perceived illness severity, perceived early treatment and having young children were predictors of mothers' health care seeking behavior. The Woreda health office administrators and health professionals should work to improve mothers' awareness and perception towards childhood problems and the importance of early seeking appropriate health care using the existed structures (one-to-five women networking and health developmental army).

Project description:BackgroundPrompt care seeking and appropriate use of anti-malarial drugs are critical components of malaria prevention and control. This study assessed malaria related perceptions, care seeking behavior and anti-malarial drug use in malaria endemic settings of Ethiopia.MethodsData were generated from a community based cross-sectional study conducted among 798 households during January 2014 as part of a larger household behavioral study in three malaria endemic districts of Jimma Zone, Southwest Ethiopia. Both quantitative and qualitative data were collected and analyzed using SPSS 17.0 and STATA 12.0.ResultsIn this study, only 76.1% of the respondents associated malaria to mosquito bite, and incorrect beliefs and perceptions were noted. Despite moderate level of knowledge (estimated mean = 62.2, Std Err = 0.7, 95% CI: 60.6-63.8%), quite high favorable attitude (overall estimated mean = 91.5, Std Err = 0.6, 95% CI: 90.1-92.9%) were recorded towards malaria preventive measures. The mean attitude score for prompt care seeking, appropriate use of anti-malarial drugs, LLIN use and Indoor Residual Spray acceptance was 98.5 (Std Err = 0.4, 95% CI:97.5-99.4), 92.7 (Std Err = 0.6 95% CI:91.5-93.9), 88.8 (Std Err = 0.5, 95% CI:85.5-92.1) and 86.5 (Std Err = 1.2, 95% CI: 83.9-89.1), respectively. The prevalence of fever was 2.9% (116/4107) and of the study participants with fever, 71.9% (95% CI: 65.5-78.3%) sought care and all of them consulted formal health care system. However, only 17 (19.8%) sought care within 24 hours after onset of fever. The frequency of care seeking was higher (77.8%, n = 21/27) and more prompt (28.6%, 6/21) for children under five as compared to old age groups despite it was not statistically significant (p > 0.05). However, higher median time of seeking first care was observed among Muslims and people who did not attend school (p < 0.05). Of those who used anti-malarial drugs, 9.1% indicated that they used it inappropriately through saving and/or sharing. Irregular availability of anti-malarial drugs; irregular presence of frontline health workers and misconceptions were mentioned to contribute to delayed care seeking and irrational use of anti-malarial drugs.ConclusionsAlthough care seeking behavior for febrile illness was quite high in this community, the habit of prompt care seeking was very limited. Thus, malaria prevention and control programs need to take into account local misconceptions and wrong perceptions, and health system factors to achieve optimal health seeking behavior in such malaria endemic settings.

Project description:Background and objectives: Fever in children is one of the most common reasons for seeking medical attention. Parents often have misconceptions about the effects to fever, which leads to inappropriate use of medication and nonurgent visits to emergency departments (ED). The aim of this study was to clarify the beliefs on the effects and management of fever and to identify healthcare seeking patterns among parents of febrile children in Latvia. Materials and Methods: Parents and legal guardians of children attending ED with febrile illness were included in the study. Participants were recruited in Children's Clinical University Hospital (CCUH) in Riga, and in six regional hospitals in Latvia. Data on beliefs about fever, administration of antipyretics, healthcare-seeking behavior, and experience in communication with health care workers were collected via questionnaire. Results: In total, 355 participants were enrolled: 199 in CCUH and 156 in regional hospitals; 59.2% of participants considered fever itself as indicative of serious illness and 92.8% believed it could raise the child's body temperature up to a dangerous level. Antipyretics were usually administered at median temperature of 38.0 °C, and the median temperature believed to be dangerous was 39.7 °C; 56.7% of parents usually contacted a doctor within the first 24 h of the illness. Parents who believed that lower temperatures are dangerous to a child were more likely to contact a doctor earlier and out-of-hours; 60.1% of participants had contacted their family doctor prior their visit to ED. Parental evaluation of satisfaction with the information and reassurance provided by the doctors at the hospital was higher than of that provided by their family doctor; 68.2% of participants felt safer when their febrile children were treated at the hospital. Conclusions: Fever itself was regarded as indicative of serious illness and potentially dangerous to the child's life. These misconceptions lead to inappropriate administration of antipyretics and early-seeking of medical attention, even out-of-hours. Hospital environment was viewed as safer and more reassuring when dealing with febrile illness in children. More emphasis must be placed on parental education on proper management of fever, especially in primary care.

Project description:BackgroundEssential newborn care (ENC) is the most vital care, particularly during the first hour of the newborn's life. This study aimed to assess health professionals' knowledge and practice of ENC at public health facilities in the Bench-Sheko Zone, southwest Ethiopia.MethodsA cross-sectional study was conducted among health professionals at selected public health facilities in the Bench-Sheko Zone of southwest Ethiopia. The data were collected using a self-administered, tested, and structured questionnaire. The data collected were entered in Epi info version 7 and analyzed using SPSS version 22. Bivariate and multivariable analyses were performed to determine the association between the dependent and independent variables. Categorical variables were presented in tabulations by frequencies and percentages. Continuous data were summarized by the mean score and standard deviation. Statistical significance was set at a p-value < 0.05.ResultsAmong the 157 respondents, 60 (38.2%) and 97 (61.8%) had good knowledge and good practice of ENC, respectively. The factors associated with good knowledge of ENC were being female (AOR = 0.72, 95% CI [0.48, 0.86]), the availability of on-the-job training (AOR = 2.00, 95% CI [1.01, 3.97]), and interest in working in the delivery room (AOR = 2.5, 95% CI [1.27, 4.94]). Better educational qualification (AOR = 4.12, 95% CI [1.67, 10.18]) and the availability of on-the-job training (AOR = 3.60, 95% CI [1.58, 8.18]) were the factors associated with good practice of ENC.ConclusionKnowledge of essential newborn care among health professionals was very low; however, the practice of essential newborn care was somewhat average compared to other studies in Ethiopia. Being female, the availability of on-the-job training and interest in working in the delivery room were the factors associated with a good knowledge of ENC; while educational qualification and the availability of on-the-job training were the factors associated with a good practice of ENC. Therefore, concerned bodies should consider the provision of refreshment on-the-job training, upgrading the qualification of health professionals, and providing incentives and motivators to improve interest in working in the delivery room.

Dataset Information

Health Care Seeking Behavior in Southwest Ethiopia.

Publications

Health Care Seeking Behavior in Southwest Ethiopia.

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