Abstract
BackgroundInformation on health-seeking behavior and utilization of health facilities in slums of Addis Ababa is scarce, impeding the implementation of effective interventions. The purpose of this study is to assess the status of health facilities utilization and predictors for health-seeking behavior of mothers/caregivers of under-five children with acute diarrhea in slums of Addis Ababa, Ethiopia.MethodsA community-based cross-sectional study design was employed in five rounds of surveys in seven kebeles in slums of Addis Ababa among 472 mothers/caregivers of 472 under-five children with acute diarrhea in reference to Andersen’s behavioral model. Data were entered into EpiData Version 3.1 and analyzed using STATA Version 14.0. Descriptive statistics were used to examine patterns of health facilities utilization and multivariable logistic regression analysis was applied to identify predictors associated with health-seeking behavior.ResultsMost mothers/caregivers (70.8%) sought care either at home (14.2%) or health facilities (56.6%), whereas 29.2% reported that they did not seek any care. Of those who consulted health facilities, government health facilities (76.9%) were more utilized than private (18.0%) and informal (5.1%) health facilities. Nearly all (93.9%) of the mothers/caregivers using government health facilities used health centers, and of those who took their children to private health facilities (60.9%) used clinics and 26.1% used pharmacies/drug vendors. Mothers/caregivers visiting health facilities obtained mainly oral rehydration salt (ORS) (39.8%) and home-recommended fluids (HRF) (40.3%), but few of them (11.9%) obtained ORS plus zinc supplementation. Predisposing factors of literacy of mothers/caregivers (adjusted odds ratio (AOR) = 2.4; 95% CI 1.4–4.1) and occupation (AOR = 2.6; 95% CI 1.5–4.6), the enabling factors of households monthly income of 50 United States Dollars (US$) and above (AOR = 2.9; 95% CI 1.5–5.6) and availability of nearest health facilities within 15 min walking distance (AOR = 3.3; 95% CI 1.7–6.6), and the need factors of recognizing danger signs of fever (AOR = 4.3; 95% CI 2.4–7.6) and vomiting (AOR = 3.3; 95% CI 1.8–5.9) were significantly associated with health-seeking behavior.ConclusionsIncreasing the proximity of health facilities in slums and health education and socioeconomic development programs targeting illiterate mothers/caregivers and poor households may promote and increase health-seeking behavior and the accessibility of health facilities for the treatment of acute diarrhea in under-five children in Addis Ababa slums.
Highlights
Information on health-seeking behavior and utilization of health facilities in slums of Addis Ababa is scarce, impeding the implementation of effective interventions
Inclusion and exclusion criteria If the same under-five children had more than one episode, we only considered the first acute diarrheal case and excluded the repeated case for the study
Characteristics of the study participants A total of 452 mothers/caregivers who had under-fiveyear-old children with acute diarrhea were enrolled in the survey, with a response rate of 95.8%
Summary
Information on health-seeking behavior and utilization of health facilities in slums of Addis Ababa is scarce, impeding the implementation of effective interventions. The purpose of this study is to assess the status of health facilities utilization and predictors for health-seeking behavior of mothers/caregivers of under-five children with acute diarrhea in slums of Addis Ababa, Ethiopia. Based on Andersen’s behavioral model, predisposing, enabling, and need factors at the individual and community levels are instrumental for increasing health-seeking behavior and health facilities utilization [7,8,9]. In Ethiopia's urban, including slums of Addis Ababa, there is limited information on health facility utilization and predictors for health-seeking behavior for under-five children with acute diarrhea. We adapted the Andersen behavioral model [9] as a conceptual framework to identify predictors needed to operationalize the need, predisposing, and enabling factors for enhancing health-seeking behavior for under-five children with acute diarrhea in slums of Addis Ababa
Sign-in/Register to view highlights & summary Sign-in/Register to access full text options 
Talk to us
Join us for a 30 min session where you can share your feedback and ask us any queries you have
Schedule a callDisclaimer: All third-party content on this website/platform is and will remain the property of their respective owners and is provided on "as is" basis without any warranties, express or implied. Use of third-party content does not indicate any affiliation, sponsorship with or endorsement by them. Any references to third-party content is to identify the corresponding services and shall be considered fair use under The CopyrightLaw.
