FACTORS ASSOCIATED WITH DELAYED ACCESS TO GROWTH MONITORING SERVICES AMONG UNDER-FIVE CHILDREN DURING THE COVID-19 PANDEMIC

Abstract

The COVID-19 pandemic caused closures of or postponed integrated health service posts in the community and hampered access of children to growth monitoring services. This study aimed to measure the proportion of under-five children who delayed accessing growth monitoring services and assess its associated factors. An online cross-sectional survey was conducted among mothers of under-five children within the period of August 14-September 14, 2020. Descriptive statistics and multivariable logistic regression were performed to assess factors associated with delayed access to growth monitoring services among under-five children in Indonesia. 11,650 under-five children were included in the analysis. About 19.9% of children had delayed access to growth monitoring services. Children taken care of by their mothers had lower odds of delayed growth monitoring services than those taken care of by caregivers [AOR: 0.83; 95%CI: 0.73-0.94]. Mothers who accessed information on COVID-19 transmission [AOR: 1.15; 95%CI: 1.01-1.32] and living in high transmission of COVID-19 (red zone) had higher odds delay accessing child growth monitoring [AOR: 1.58; 95%CI: 1.39-1.78]. Therefore, there is an urgent need for customized community-level programs to increase access for growth monitoring during the COVID-19 pandemic, notably among mothers living in high transmission of COVID-19. Keywords: COVID-19, Growth Monitoring, Health Services DOI： https://doi.org/10.35741/issn.0258-2724.58.3.64