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. 2019 Jan 14;19(1):57.
doi: 10.1186/s12889-019-6397-x.

Health care utilization for common childhood illnesses in rural parts of Ethiopia: evidence from the 2016 Ethiopian demographic and health survey

Muluneh Alene  1 , Leltework Yismaw  2 , Yebelay Berelie  3 , Bekalu Kassie  4
Affiliations

Health care utilization for common childhood illnesses in rural parts of Ethiopia: evidence from the 2016 Ethiopian demographic and health survey

Muluneh Alene et al. BMC Public Health. .

Abstract

Background: Generally, health care utilization in developing countries is low particularly rural community have lower health care utilization. Despite this fact, little is known about the magnitude and determinants of health care utilization for common childhood illnesses in Ethiopia. Thus, this study was conducted to determine the magnitude and to identify determinants of health care utilization for common childhood illnesses in the rural parts of Ethiopia.

Methods: For this study, data were obtained from the 2016 Ethiopian demographic and health survey. A total of 1576 mothers of under-five children were included in the analysis. Data analysis was performed using R software. Both univariable and multivariable logistic regression analysis were fitted to identify the determinants of health care utilization. Variables with a 95% confidence interval for odds ratio excluding one were considered as significant determinants of the outcome.

Results: The findings of this study revealed that only half (49.7%) (95%CI: 46.1-53.4%), 40.9% (95%CI 37.6-44.2%), and 38.0% (95%CI: 34.7-41.4%) of the children utilized health care for diarrhea, fever, and cough, respectively. Children age between 12 and 23 months (AOR: 1.58, 95%CI: 1.08-2.31), maternal education (AOR: 1.96, 95%CI: 1.34-2.88), and giving birth at health facilities (AOR: 1.49, 95%CI: 1.04-2.13) were found to be the determinants of health care utilization for diarrhea. Marital status (AOR: 0.25, 95%CI: 0.06-0.81), husbands' education (AOR: 1.37, 95%CI: 1.01-1.86), and giving birth at health facilities (AOR: 1.51, 95%CI: 1.09-2.10) were factors significantly associated with health care utilization for fever. Children age between 12 and 23 months (AOR: 1.51, 95%CI: 1.03-2.22), maternal education (AOR: 1.70, 95%CI: 1.18-2.44), and giving birth at health facilities (AOR: 1.74, 95%CI: 1.23-2.46) were significantly associated with health care utilization for cough.

Conclusions: Low health care utilization for childhood illnesses was noticed. The health care utilization for diarrhea and cough was lower for children of ages between 0 and 11 months, mothers without formal education and home-delivered children's. The health care utilization for fever was lower for separated parents, husbands without formal education, giving birth at home and from the poorest family. Programs to improve the educational status of a household are essential for better care utilization and children development.

Keywords: Childhood illnesses; EDHS; Ethiopia; Healthcare seeking; Rural area.

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Conflict of interest statement

Ethics approval and consent to participate

Permission was obtained from CSA to access the data from EDHS. Since the data were secondary (study subjects did not participate directly) informed consent was not applicable.

Consent for publication

Not applicable

Competing interests

The authors declare that they have no competing interests.

Publisher’s Note

Springer Nature remains neutral with regard to jurisdictional claims in published maps and institutional affiliations.

Figures

Fig. 1
Fig. 1
Diagrammatic presentation of data extraction from the 2016 Ethiopian Demographic and Health survey
See this image and copyright information in PMC

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