Less Than One-Third of Caretakers Sought Formal Health Care Facilities for Common Childhood Illnesses in Ethiopia: Evidence from the 2011 Ethiopian Demographic Health Survey

Abstract

Background. Most of the childhood illnesses can be proven with effective interventions. However, countless children die needlessly in developing countries due to the failure of their guardians to seek care timely. The aim of this study was to assess health care seeking behavior of caretakers of children under the age of five years for treatment of common childhood illnesses. Methods. Further analysis of the Ethiopian 2011 demographic and health survey was done. All children under the age of five reported to have been ill from the three common childhood illnesses and their caretakers were included in the analysis. A complex sample logistic regression model was employed to determine factors associated with the health care seeking behavior of caretakers. Result. A total of 2,842 caregivers who reported that their index child had at least one of the three common childhood illnesses in the two weeks preceding the survey were captured, of which 849 (29.87%; 95% CI: 28, 32%) sought formal health care facilities. Conclusion and Recommendation. In Ethiopia health care seeking behavior of caretakers for common childhood illnesses is low. Increasing mass media exposure can possibly improve the health seeking behavior of caretakers.

Acute respiratory infection and its associated factors among children under-five years attending pediatrics ward at University of Gondar Comprehensive Specialized Hospital, Northwest Ethiopia: institution-based cross-sectional study

“…Several factors predispose children under five years of age for ARIs. These factors may be attributed to child factors such as age [11][12][13][14][15] and female sex [16], maternal factors such as lower age [11,13], unemployment [11,13] and lower educational status [16,17] environmental-related factors such as urban residence [17], rural residence [18], wet season [19][20][21] and co-morbid diseases [14,22,23]. There is a paucity of studies regarding the prevalence and associated factors of ARI among hospitalized under-five years children in Ethiopia even though few community-based cross-sectional studies [24][25][26] have been undertaken in to assess the prevalence and associated factors of ARIs among under-five years children.…”

Determinants of delay in care seeking for diarrheal diseases among mothers/caregivers with under-five children in public health facilities of Arba Minch town, southern Ethiopia; 2019

“…Seeking appropriate and prompt care could reduce by 20 percent of childhood deaths due to illnesses and prevent long-term complication [5]. However, health care seeking behavior of mothers of under-five children was poor in Ethiopia and only a small proportion of under-five children receive appropriate care timely [7][8][9][10]. Accordingly, EDHS 2016 revealed that only 44% of under-five children with diarrheal diseases were taken for advice or treatment to a health facility.…”

Demographic and mortality analysis of hospitalized children at a referral hospital in Addis Ababa, Ethiopia

“…Despite this lower rate, 44 % of pediatric hospital deaths at ZMH occur early during hospitalization, which is higher than previously reported at other Ethiopian hospitals [6,7]. High early mortality is likely multifactorial, related to patterns of severe disease, delays in care seeking by family members, inadequate pre-hospital care, and underprioritized emergency care in hospital [13][14][15]. Improving pre-hospital emergency medical services (EMS) is emerging as a priority throughout low-and middle-income countries (LMIC) and has shown success at decreasing both mortality and long-term human and economic costs of illness and injury in other settings [16][17][18].…”