Astale Tigist, Chenault Michelene
Department of Health Education and Behavioral Sciences, Jimma University, Jimma, Ethiopia.
Department of Methodology & Statistics, Maastricht University, Maastricht, Netherlands.
PLoS One. 2015 Nov 11;10(11):e0142553. doi: 10.1371/journal.pone.0142553. eCollection 2015.
Acute respiratory infection is a major contributor to morbidity and mortality among children under five years of age in Ethiopia. While facilities have been implemented to address this problem they are underused due to a lack in help-seeking behavior. This study investigates factors related to the help-seeking behavior of mothers for children with acute respiratory infection using data from the 2011 Ethiopia Demographic and Health Survey.
Data on 11,030 children aged 0-59 months obtained through interviewing women aged 15-49 years throughout Ethiopia was available. Descriptive statistics and logistic regression analyses were performed to determine which factors are related to help-seeking behavior for acute respiratory infection.
In the two weeks prior to the survey, 773(7%) of the children were reported to have symptoms of acute respiratory infection while treatment was sought for only 209 (27.2%). The odds ratio for acute respiratory infection was 1.6 (95% CI: 1.2-2.0) for rural residence with only 25.2% of these mothers seeking help compared to 46.4% for mothers with an urban residence. Smaller family size, younger mothers' age and having had prenatal care had a statistically significant odds ratio greater than 1 for both urban and rural residences. Highest wealth index had a statistically significant odds ratio greater than 1 for rural residence only, whereas primary education or higher had a statistically significant odds ratio greater than 1 for urban residence.
Children from rural areas are more at risk for acute respiratory infection while their mothers are less likely to seek help. Nevertheless, there is also underuse of available services in urban areas. Interventions should target mothers with less education and wealth and older mothers. Expanding prenatal care among these groups would encourage a better use of available facilities and subsequently better care for their children.
急性呼吸道感染是埃塞俄比亚五岁以下儿童发病和死亡的主要原因。虽然已采取措施解决这一问题，但由于缺乏寻求帮助的行为，这些措施未得到充分利用。本研究利用2011年埃塞俄比亚人口与健康调查的数据，调查与急性呼吸道感染儿童母亲寻求帮助行为相关的因素。
通过对埃塞俄比亚各地15至49岁妇女进行访谈，获得了11,030名0至59个月儿童的数据。进行描述性统计和逻辑回归分析，以确定哪些因素与急性呼吸道感染的寻求帮助行为相关。
在调查前的两周内，据报告773名（7%）儿童有急性呼吸道感染症状，但只有209名（27.2%）儿童接受了治疗。农村地区急性呼吸道感染的比值比为1.6（95%置信区间：1.2 - 2.0），这些母亲中只有25.2%寻求帮助，而城市地区母亲的这一比例为46.4%。家庭规模较小、母亲年龄较小以及接受过产前护理，在城市和农村地区的统计显著比值比均大于1。最高财富指数仅在农村地区的统计显著比值比大于1，而小学及以上教育程度仅在城市地区的统计显著比值比大于1。
农村地区的儿童患急性呼吸道感染的风险更高，而他们的母亲寻求帮助的可能性较小。然而，城市地区也存在现有服务利用不足的情况。干预措施应针对教育程度和财富较低的母亲以及年龄较大的母亲。在这些群体中扩大产前护理将鼓励更好地利用现有设施，从而更好地照顾他们的孩子。
