Factors Affecting Health Seeking Behaviors Among Mothers of Under Five Children Attending Primary Health Care Centers, Sudan

Abstract

Children represent the most vulnerable age group in any community. In Sudan they have higher morbidity and mortality rates. Mothers' health seeking behaviors are major determinants for improving child health and knowledge about the factors influencing such practice is very crucial for designing effective intervention strategies. This studyaimsto study factors affecting health seeking behaviors for illness in under five children among the mothers in Khartoum state, Sudan. It was Across-sectional study usingbothquantitative and qualitative methods, Four hundreds and ninety five (495) mothers of those who visited the vaccination units of 33 public health centers were interviewed. Four focus group discussions were held. Chisquare test and regression analysis were used to determine the association between different factors and health seeking behaviors. The results showed that Eighty percent of mothers (80%) seek health care for their ill children. Of them, 70% went immediately to heath facility after disease occurrence. The person who took the decision of going to health facility (p-value=0.000) and work time for the health facility (p-value=0.001) were found to be significantly associated with mothers' seeking behavior using bivariate and multivariate analysis. Since the person who took the decision of going to health facility is the most determinant for mothers' seeking behavior, awareness rising among mothers about the importance of going to health facility immediately after disease occurrence can improve child health outcomes.

The influence of sociodemographic factors on parental health‐seeking behavior for illnesses among the pediatric age group in Karachi: A cross‐sectional study

“…This study found that infants between 1 month and 2 years constituted the largest group of patients (30.84%), followed by the preschoolers' group (2–5 years) (30.37%) and schoolers (6–12 years) (27.57%), whereas adolescents (13–18 years) were recorded as 8.88% of the respondents. These findings differ from a study conducted in India which reported to have age 11–15 years as the most common age group presenting to the hospital for paediatric care, 7 and a study conducted in Karachi in which ages 1–3 years were most common (25% of paediatric population) presenting to emergency departments 8 . With growing awareness and recognition in developed as well as developing countries, education and knowledge have grown but have not proven to be sufficient to promote changes in the HSB of individuals 9 .…”

“…This study has shown that better health‐seeking options were opted for by families where mothers had a say. Similar findings have been reported in a study in Sudan, which also showed that mothers are the most important determinants of HSB amongst pediatric population 8 . Women have also gained greater autonomy for decision‐making for their children, but they remain in fewer numbers, only 10.7% in this study, whereas fathers and grandparents have a higher say.…”

“…Similar findings have been reported in a study in Sudan, which also showed that mothers are the most important determinants of HSB amongst pediatric population. 8 Women have also gained greater autonomy for decision‐making for their children, but they remain in fewer numbers, only 10.7% in this study, whereas fathers and grandparents have a higher say. This is opposed by another study conducted in Leeds where mostly mothers were the decision makers.…”

“…These findings differ from a study conducted in India which reported to have age 11–15 years as the most common age group presenting to the hospital for paediatric care, 7 and a study conducted in Karachi in which ages 1–3 years were most common (25% of paediatric population) presenting to emergency departments. 8 With growing awareness and recognition in developed as well as developing countries, education and knowledge have grown but have not proven to be sufficient to promote changes in the HSB of individuals. 9 So, many studies that focus on different aspects have been categorized into geographical, 10 social, 11 , 12 economic, 13 , 14 cultural 15 , 16 and organizational factors 17 affecting HSBs.…”

Health seeking behavior of street connected children in Addis Ababa, Ethiopia

“…Other studies have found factors such as the amount of social capital, level of access to health information, availability of providers, communication barriers, the need to keep one's health problem secret, availability of opportunities for specialized care, fear of side effects of drugs, level of education, type and severity of illness, costs of care in relation to time, travel and treatment, attitudes, beliefs and core values, life adaptation skills, psychological dispositions, social support, media, exposure to health information, gendered preference of care providers, religion, culture, marital status, income, occupation, work time of healthcare facilities, and the nature of the healthcare environment such as long waiting time, misbehavior of staffs, negligence of doctors, willingness to listen to disease history, commercial attitudes to prescribe pathological tests affecting health seeking behavior (Mackian, 2002 ; Afolabi et al, 2013 ; Webair and Bin-Gouth, 2013 ; Tegegne and Legese, 2014 ; Akeju et al, 2016 ; Rahman et al, 2016 ; Uche, 2017 ; Adam and Aigbokhaode, 2018 ; Latunji and Akinyemi, 2018 ; Basharat et al, 2019 ; Jalu et al, 2019 ; Khalil et al, 2019 ; Guta et al, 2021 ). According to Mackian ( 2002 ), health-seeking behavior is not just an isolated event; rather, it is the result of an evolving mix of social, personal, cultural, and experiential factors.…”