Delayed healthcare seeking and associated factors for common childhood illnesses among caregivers with under-five children who visited Yem special woreda public health facilities, Southwest Ethiopia, 2023.

For under-five children, receiving timely and appropriate medical attention is crucial in preventing serious and fatal complications. Unfortunately, evidence shows that parents of young children frequently delay seeking care, contributing to the death of many kids before they even get to a medical facility. The study aimed to assess delay in healthcare seeking and associated factors for common childhood illnesses among caregivers with under-five children visiting Yem special woreda public health facilities, 2023. A facility-based cross-sectional study was conducted among 333 caregivers of under-five children diagnosed with common childhood illnesses visiting Yem special woreda public health facilities. Systematic random sampling was employed, and data was collected using an interviewer-administered questionnaire. Delay was characterized as a long time (typically >24 hours) between disease onset and beginning of treatment. Data was entered into Epi Data version 4.7 and exported to Statistical Package for the Social Sciences version 25.0. Binary logistic regression model was fitted. Bi-variable and multivariable logistic regression analyses were conducted to identify the factors that influence the delayed healthcare seeking. Adjusted odds ratios with a 95% confidence interval were used to determine the associations. Statistically significant variables were identified based on a p-value < 0.05. A total of 326 caregivers participated in the study with a response rate of 98%. The proportion of delayed health care seeking was 74.5%. Caregivers "wait-and-see" approach is the primary reason for the delay followed by traditional home treatments. Child ≥ 12 months (AOR = 1.99, 95% CI: 1.11-3.57), rural residence (AOR = 2.41, 95% CI: 1.35-4.28), no community health insurance (AOR = 1.91, 95% CI: 1.07-3.42), traditional treatment (AOR = 2.98, 95% CI: 1.46-6.10), and initial self-medication at home (AOR = 2.73, 95% CI: 1.32-5.63) and perceiving illness as mild (AOR = 2.64, 95% CI: 1.28-5.42) were factors associated with delayed healthcare seeking. The study showed delay in health care seeking for common childhood illnesses among caregivers was high. Hence, reducing delays necessitates the implementation of public education campaigns, collaboration with local organizations, and the provision of counseling for caregivers regarding childhood illnesses.

Hunde GA ，Zeben KF ，Demeke T 《PLoS One》

Mothers/caregivers healthcare seeking behavior towards childhood illness in selected health centers in Addis Ababa, Ethiopia: a facility-based cross-sectional study.

Abegaz NT ，Berhe H ，Gebretekle GB 《BMC Pediatrics》

Determinants of delay in care seeking for diarrheal diseases among mothers/caregivers with under-five children in public health facilities of Arba Minch town, southern Ethiopia; 2019.

Fikire A ，Ayele G ，Haftu D 《PLoS One》

Delay in seeking healthcare for pneumonia and associated factors among mothers/caregivers of children aged 2-59 months in public health facilities in Nekemte town, Ethiopia.

Pneumonia is the most significant infectious disease and the predominant cause of death among under-five children (U5C) in low- and middle-income countries. It is the second leading cause of death in Ethiopia. Delay in seeking healthcare is one of the contributing factors to pneumonia-associated mortality. There is a limitation to the study aimed at identifying health-seeking behavior and risk factors in the western part of Ethiopia. The study aimed to determine the level of delay in seeking healthcare for pneumonia and associated factors among caregivers of U5C in public health facilities in Nekemte town, Ethiopia. A health facility-based cross-sectional study was conducted from 1st March to 5thApril, 2022 using a structured interviewer-administered questionnaire to collect data from 410 caregivers of children aged 2-59 months. We used a systematic sampling technique for collecting the data. For analysis, data were entered into Epi Data version 4.6 and exported to SPSS version 25. Binary logistic regression was used to identify the associated factors of delay in seeking healthcare for pneumonia at a p-value < 0.05 using a 95% confidence interval (CI) in multivariable logistic regression. A proportion of delays in seeking healthcare for pneumonia among children aged 2-59 months is 62.2%. Rural residence (AOR = 2.77, CI:2.48-5.17), child aged ≥12 months (AOR = 5.4,95%CI:4.17-7.20), monthly income < 1000 Ethiopian birr (AOR = 6.11,95%CI:2.16-17.26,), not using health insurance (AOR = 8.93,95%CI:5.43-14.68), use of self-medication (AOR = 10.97,95%CI:1.85-65.3), poor knowledge (AOR = 4.63,95%CI: 1.35-15.9), perceiving illness due to pneumonia as mild (AOR = 14.97,95%CI:9.76-22.9) and no previous admission history (AOR = 2.85,95%CI:1.77-4.56) were significant factors for delay in seeking healthcare for pneumonia among children aged 2-59 months. The study emphasizes that caregivers' delay in seeking healthcare for pneumonia is high. Creating caregivers' awareness or providing adequate health education to develop early healthcare-seeking behavior and encouraging caregivers to use health insurance is essential.

Temsesgen D ，Wordofa B ，Tesfaye T ，Etafa W ... -  《-》

Predictors of delayed health seeking for febrile children: multi-level analysis of cross-sectional study data from southern Ethiopia.

Febrile illnesses are commonly reported as a primary reason for seeking healthcare in sub-Saharan Africa. Timely diagnosis and getting prompt treatment within 24 h of fever onset is crucial to avert the risk of developing severe complications and death. Understanding factors contributing to delayed health seeking is important for public health interventions. Hence, this study aimed to assess individual- and contextual-level factors associated with the delay in seeking prompt treatment for children with fever. A community-based cross-sectional study was conducted from September 2022 to June 2023 in Gamo zone, southern Ethiopia. Three districts were chosen, and then, from each district, six clusters or kebeles were chosen by simple random sampling. A total of 820 caregivers were randomly selected. A two-level mixed-effects logistic regression model was employed to identify factors associated with the delay in seeking prompt treatment. The associations were measured by an adjusted odds ratio (AOR), and statistical significance was declared at a 5% level of significance. The prevalence of the delay in seeking prompt care was 47.8%. Factors contributing to the delay were caregivers who were aged 30 years and above [AOR 0.23, 95% confidence interval (CI): 0.10-0.52], caregivers who followed the Protestant religion (AOR 3.67, 95% CI: 2.08-6.48), caregivers unable to read and write (AOR 5.32, 95% CI: 6.80-11.70), merchant caregivers (AOR 6.63, 95% CI: 2.75-15.97), caregivers who were exposed to only one media source (AOR 9.3, 95% CI: 8.43-15.60), caregivers with the experience of child death (AOR 0.05, 95% CI: 0.01-0.22), and caregivers seeking permission from their partners to access healthcare (AOR 12.64, 95% CI: 6.98-22.89). There was a high level of delay in seeking healthcare. Targeted community education through mass media, healthcare facilities, and community-level awareness campaigns should be strengthened to improve early treatment seeking and lessen the consequences of delayed treatment seeking.

Chisha Y ，Feleke T ，Zeleke EA ，Aschalew Z ，Abate ZG ，Haile Y ，Dalbo M ，Endriyas M ... -  《Frontiers in Public Health》