Prevalence, determinants, and health service utilization of ‘at risk’ under-five children attending a Family Health Center, Egypt 2017

Abstract

Background More than half of under-five child deaths are due to the diseases that are preventable and treatable through simple and affordable interventions. Owing to lack of resources, all under-five cannot be given equal time and attention. Therefore, ‘at risk’ concept has gained importance where health care is provided to all children., whereas children with high risk are given special attention. Aim This study aims to determine the prevalence and identifying determinants of ‘at risk’ under-five children attending Rasheed Family Health Center and to determine the pattern of utilization of available health services. Participants and methods This cross-sectional study included 300 under-five children with their mothers. Data were collected using an interviewing questionnaire including personal-social characteristics, obstetric history, and child characteristics. ‘At risk’ children were identified based on the recommendations of WHO Expert Committee and accordingly, the ‘at risk’ group was compared with those ‘not at risk’. Results Results show that the prevalence of ‘at risk’ children among the studied group was 77.7%. The most frequent risk factors were recurrent or chronic gastrointestinal and/or respiratory tract infections followed by delay in receiving supplementary feeds, birth spacing less than 2 years and early lactation failure. Formula feeding and attacks of gastroenteritis were significant predictors of ‘at risk’ children. The main factors behind low utilization of the services were the long distance between home and the center, unpaved roads, and high costs of transportation, health care service, and medications.