Health Care Seeking Behavior for Common Childhood Illnesses in Jeldu District, Oromia Regional State, Ethiopia.

Even 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 commo...

Full description

Bibliographic Details
Main Authors: Tufa Kolola, Takele Gezahegn, Mesfin Addisie
Format: Article
Language:English
Published: Public Library of Science (PLoS) 2016-01-01
Series:PLoS ONE
Online Access:http://europepmc.org/articles/PMC5065207?pdf=render
_version_ 1828372965462376448
author Tufa Kolola
Takele Gezahegn
Mesfin Addisie
author_facet Tufa Kolola
Takele Gezahegn
Mesfin Addisie
author_sort Tufa Kolola
collection DOAJ
description Even 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.A 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.A 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.Health 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.
first_indexed 2024-04-14T07:11:34Z
format Article
id doaj.art-797aed202e584163bd96e41c436068da
institution Directory Open Access Journal
issn 1932-6203
language English
last_indexed 2024-04-14T07:11:34Z
publishDate 2016-01-01
publisher Public Library of Science (PLoS)
record_format Article
series PLoS ONE
spelling doaj.art-797aed202e584163bd96e41c436068da2022-12-22T02:06:25ZengPublic Library of Science (PLoS)PLoS ONE1932-62032016-01-011110e016453410.1371/journal.pone.0164534Health Care Seeking Behavior for Common Childhood Illnesses in Jeldu District, Oromia Regional State, Ethiopia.Tufa KololaTakele GezahegnMesfin AddisieEven 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.A 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.A 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.Health 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.http://europepmc.org/articles/PMC5065207?pdf=render
spellingShingle Tufa Kolola
Takele Gezahegn
Mesfin Addisie
Health Care Seeking Behavior for Common Childhood Illnesses in Jeldu District, Oromia Regional State, Ethiopia.
PLoS ONE
title Health Care Seeking Behavior for Common Childhood Illnesses in Jeldu District, Oromia Regional State, Ethiopia.
title_full Health Care Seeking Behavior for Common Childhood Illnesses in Jeldu District, Oromia Regional State, Ethiopia.
title_fullStr Health Care Seeking Behavior for Common Childhood Illnesses in Jeldu District, Oromia Regional State, Ethiopia.
title_full_unstemmed Health Care Seeking Behavior for Common Childhood Illnesses in Jeldu District, Oromia Regional State, Ethiopia.
title_short Health Care Seeking Behavior for Common Childhood Illnesses in Jeldu District, Oromia Regional State, Ethiopia.
title_sort health care seeking behavior for common childhood illnesses in jeldu district oromia regional state ethiopia
url http://europepmc.org/articles/PMC5065207?pdf=render
work_keys_str_mv AT tufakolola healthcareseekingbehaviorforcommonchildhoodillnessesinjeldudistrictoromiaregionalstateethiopia
AT takelegezahegn healthcareseekingbehaviorforcommonchildhoodillnessesinjeldudistrictoromiaregionalstateethiopia
AT mesfinaddisie healthcareseekingbehaviorforcommonchildhoodillnessesinjeldudistrictoromiaregionalstateethiopia