Department of Community Medicine and Public Health, Maharajgunj Medical Campus, Institute of Medicine, Tribhuvan University, Kathmandu, Nepal.
Department of Orthopedics and Trauma Surgery, Maharajgunj Medical Campus, Institute of Medicine, Tribhuvan University, Kathmandu, Nepal.
PLoS One. 2022 Mar 30;17(3):e0264676. doi: 10.1371/journal.pone.0264676. eCollection 2022.
Appropriate and prompt health care seeking by parents or caretakers can reduce morbidity and mortality among under-five year children. Although remarkable progress has been made in the reduction of under-five mortality, still the under-five mortality rate is high in Nepal. There are few studies on health care seeking behavior among caretakers in Nepal. Therefore, this study was conducted to determine the prevailing health care seeking behavior of caretakers on common childhood illness of under five year children and to identify the association of socio demographic, economic, illness related and health system related factors with health care seeking behavior in 2018.
A community based descriptive cross-sectional study was conducted from September to November 2018. Data were collected using a pretested semi-structured interview schedule. Both descriptive and inferential statistics were used to present the data. Bivariate and multivariate logistic regression analysis was used to identify the factors associated with health care seeking behavior.
A total of 387 caretakers participated in the study. Of these, 84.8% sought any type of care and 15.2% did nothing. Amongst those who sought care 42.4% visited the pharmacy directly, 25.3% visited the health facility. Amongst those who visited a health facility, 37.2% of caretakers sought prompt health care. Common danger sign stated by caretakers was fever in children (92.4%). Secondary education(AOR = 0.357, 95%CI = 0.142-0.896), involvement in service as an occupation(AOR = 3.533, 95%CI = 1.096-11.384), distance to reach nearest health facility(0.957, 95%CI = 0.923-0.993) and perceived severity of illness; moderate severity (7.612, 95%CI = 2.127-27.242), severe severity (AOR = 15.563, 95%CI = 3.495-69.308) were found to be significantly associated with health care seeking behavior.
Strong policies and regulations should be formulated and implemented at Birendranagar municipality of Surkhet district to prevent direct purchase of medicines from pharmacies without any consultation. It is essential to conduct the health awareness program at community level on early recognition of danger signs and importance of consulting health facilities.
父母或照顾者及时寻求适当的医疗保健可以降低五岁以下儿童的发病率和死亡率。尽管在降低五岁以下儿童死亡率方面取得了显著进展，但尼泊尔的五岁以下儿童死亡率仍然很高。尼泊尔关于照顾者卫生保健寻求行为的研究很少。因此，本研究旨在确定 2018 年照顾者在五岁以下儿童常见儿童疾病方面的普遍卫生保健寻求行为，并确定社会人口统计学、经济、疾病相关和卫生系统相关因素与卫生保健寻求行为的关联。
这是一项 2018 年 9 月至 11 月进行的基于社区的描述性横断面研究。使用经过预测试的半结构式访谈表收集数据。使用描述性和推断性统计方法呈现数据。使用单变量和多变量逻辑回归分析确定与卫生保健寻求行为相关的因素。
共有 387 名照顾者参加了这项研究。其中，84.8%的人寻求任何类型的护理，15.2%的人什么都不做。在寻求护理的人中，42.4%直接去药店，25.3%去医疗机构。在去医疗机构的人中，37.2%的照顾者寻求及时的医疗保健。照顾者提到的常见危险信号是儿童发烧（92.4%）。中等教育（AOR = 0.357，95%CI = 0.142-0.896）、作为职业参与服务（AOR = 3.533，95%CI = 1.096-11.384）、到达最近医疗机构的距离（0.957，95%CI = 0.923-0.993）和感知疾病严重程度；中度严重程度（7.612，95%CI = 2.127-27.242）、严重程度（AOR = 15.563，95%CI = 3.495-69.308）与卫生保健寻求行为显著相关。
应当在苏尔凯特县比尔根德拉纳加尔市制定和实施强有力的政策和法规，以防止未经任何咨询就从药店直接购买药品。在社区一级开展早期识别危险信号和咨询医疗机构重要性的卫生意识计划至关重要。
