Skip to main page content
U.S. flag

An official website of the United States government

Dot gov

The .gov means it’s official.
Federal government websites often end in .gov or .mil. Before sharing sensitive information, make sure you’re on a federal government site.

Https

The site is secure.
The https:// ensures that you are connecting to the official website and that any information you provide is encrypted and transmitted securely.

Access keys NCBI Homepage MyNCBI Homepage Main Content Main Navigation
. 2009 Dec 9:9:454.
doi: 10.1186/1471-2458-9-454.

Health care seeking among pulmonary tuberculosis suspects and patients in rural Ethiopia: a community-based study

Solomon Yimer  1 , Carol Holm-Hansen, Tilahun Yimaldu, Gunnar Bjune
Affiliations

Health care seeking among pulmonary tuberculosis suspects and patients in rural Ethiopia: a community-based study

Solomon Yimer et al. BMC Public Health. .

Abstract

Background: Health care seeking is a dynamic process that is influenced by socio-demographic, cultural and other factors. In Ethiopia, there are limited studies regarding the health seeking behaviour of tuberculosis (TB) suspects and TB patients. However, a thorough understanding of patients' motivation and actions is crucial to understanding TB and the treatment of disease. Such insights would conceivably help to reduce delay in diagnosis, improve treatment adherence and thereby reduce transmission of TB in the community. The objective of this study was to describe and analyze health care seeking among TB suspects and pulmonary TB (PTB) cases in a rural district of the Amhara Region in Ethiopia.

Methods: Study kebeles were randomly selected in a cross-sectional study design. House-to-house visits were conducted in which individuals aged 15 years and above in all households of the kebeles were included. Subjects with symptoms suggestive of TB were interviewed about their health seeking behaviour, socio-demographic and clinical factors using a semi-structured questionnaire. Logistics regression analysis was employed to assess associations between the independent and outcome variables.

Results: The majority, 787 (78%), TB suspects and 33 (82.5%) PTB cases had taken health care actions for symptoms from sources outside their homes. The median delay before the first action was 30 days. In logistics regression, women (AOR 0.8, 95% CI 0.6, 0.9) were found to be less likely to visit a medical health provider than men. Those with a long duration of cough (AOR 1.5, 95% CI 1.03, 2.1) and those with a previous history of TB (AOR 1.5, 95% CI 1.03, 2.3) were more likely to visit a medical health provider compared to those with a shorter duration of cough and with no history of TB.

Conclusion: The majority of TB suspects and PTB cases had already taken health care actions for their symptoms at the time of the survey. The availability of a simple and rapid diagnostic TB test for use at the lowest level of health care and the involvement of all health providers in case finding activities are imperative for early TB case detection.

PubMed Disclaimer

Figures

Figure 1
Figure 1
Action taking among TB suspects (n = 1006).
Figure 2
Figure 2
Action taking among PTB patients (n = 40).
See this image and copyright information in PMC

References

    1. World Health Organization. Global tuberculosis control-epidemiology, strategy and financing: profiles of high burden countries. Annual report. Geneva. 2008.
    1. Storla DG, Yimer S, Bjune GA. A systematic review of delay in the diagnosis and treatment of tuberculosis. BMC Public Health. 2008;8:15. doi: 10.1186/1471-2458-8-15. - DOI - PMC - PubMed
    1. Sabramanian T. Sample survey of awareness of symptoms and utilization of health facilities by chest symptomatics. Indian Journal of Tuberculosis. 1990;137:69–71.
    1. Fochen G, Deshpande K, Diwan V, Mishra, Diwan KV, Thorson A. Health seeking among individuals with cough and tuberculosis: a population-based study from rural India. Int J Tuberc Lung Dis. 2006;10:995–1000. - PubMed
    1. Tupasi TE, Radhakrishna S, Co VM, Villa Ma LA. Bacillary disease and health seeking behaviour among Filipinos with symptoms of tuberculosis: implications for control. Int J Tuberc Lung Dis. 2000;4:1126–1132. - PubMed

Publication types