Gender Difference in Community’s Health Care Seeking Behaviour towards Male and Female Newborns in Today’s Scenario- A Cross-sectional Study

Abstract

Introduction: The sex ratio is a crucial social indicator to assess the level of equality between men and women. In several aspects, the gender difference between men and women is the major expression of social and cultural trends of the society. Aim: To analyse sex ratio at birth and the gender difference in health seeking behaviour among newborns and the natural survival advantage of female newborns by studying the admission, discharges, mortality, follow-up and Leave Against Medical Advice (LAMA) in Special Newborn Care Unit. Materials and Methods: This cross-sectional study was conducted in Netaji Subash Chandra Bose Medical College and Hospital, Madhya Pradesh and Lady Elgin Hospital, Madhya Pradesh from July 2017 to June 2019. The total number of newborns included in the study was 37,256. The difference in male and female newborns in terms of birth, LAMA, morbidity, mortality and follow-up were studied. The monthly statistical data were entered in an excel sheet. The data were analysed using SPSS version 22.0 for Windows. The mean values of the monthly percentage were compared gender-wise using the t-test. Results: Out 20108 male newborns and 17,148 female newborns advised for follow-up care, 1897 females (mean-14.64, SD- 11.47) and 3029 males (mean-16.94, SD-12.47) came for follow- up care. The gender difference was statistically significant (p ≤0.001). Females (mean outborn unit-3.07, inborn unit-1.05) took LAMA more than males (mean outborn-2, inborn-0.84) which was statistically significant (outborn: p≤0.001, inborn: p=0.0254). This imples less health seeking behaviour towards females. Mortality (p-value: outborn-0.0041, inborn-0.0105) and morbidity (p≤0.001) were lesser in females compared to males which was statistically significant. These factors imply natural survival advantage in females. Conclusion: The present study concludes that the health seeking behaviour was less towards female newborns despite their natural survival advantage which plays an important role in the declining sex ratio.