Determinants of Care Seeking for Children With Pneumonia and Diarrhea in Guatemala: Implications for Intervention Strategies

Abstract

Proximal factors associated with recognizing need for care were important in determining formal care, and were strongly linked to social determinants. In addition to specific action by the health system with an enhanced community health worker role, a systems approach can help ensure barriers are addressed among poorer and more remote homes.

Children with lower respiratory tract infections and serum 25‐hydroxyvitamin D3 levels: A case–control study

“…Also, in our study we found a difference of illiteracy in maternal education between cases and controls (18.6% vs. 2.9%), a factor that has been shown to be associated with decreased likelihood to seek formal care for sick children, and which could be related to social group, distance from a health center, food intake, or mothers' behavior …”

“…Also, in our study we found a difference of illiteracy in maternal education between cases and controls (18.6% vs. 2.9%), a factor that has been shown to be associated with decreased likelihood to seek formal care for sick children, 37,38 and which could be related to social group, distance from a health center, food intake, or mothers' behavior. 39,40 It should be noted that vitamin D serum cutoffs that can prevent infections are still undefined. As a nonexperimental study, we could not control for confounding variables that we could not measure.…”

Using geographical analysis to identify child health inequality in sub-Saharan Africa

“…Only 43 percent of children with symptoms of acute respiratory infection in low-income countries were taken to a health care provider in the last decade [25]. Numerous studies show that distance from the nearest health facility is a significant barrier to seeking care for child illness, both because of the direct cost of travel and the indirect cost of time lost during travel [11,23,26–28], which has led to initiatives to provide good-quality care in communities [29]. There is some evidence that improving accessibility to health care in low- and middle-income countries can improve health equity by reducing socioeconomic gaps in care [30].…”

Perceptions and utilization of generic medicines in Guatemala: a mixed-methods study with physicians and pharmacy staff

“…Even in the public sector, medicines are often out of stock, and, thus, public providers may write prescriptions for patients to purchase medicines privately. Many health seekers eschew clinical providers altogether and directly seek care at pharmacies [37, 42–44]. In this setting, pharmacy staff may theoretically steer patients away from generics or “upsell” originator products.…”