Assessment Of Health Seeking Behavior And Associated Factors For General Danger Signs Among Mothers Of Under Five Children In Bishoftu Town East Shoa Zone Oromiya Ethiopia 2016.

Background: Adequate recognition of danger signs is an important parenting tool in preventingrnthe child from preventable morbidities and mortalities. Many child deaths are attributed to delaysrnin seeking care, a timely care seeking practice has a great importance in areas with limited healthrnaccess. The world health organization estimates that seeking appropriate and on time care by carerngivers could reduce child death by 20%.rnObjective: The objective of the study was to assess health seeking behavior and associated factorsrnfor general danger signs among mothers of under-five children in Bishoftu town, East Shoa Zone,rnOromiya.rnMethods: A community based cross sectional study was conducted from March – April 2016. Arntotal of 422 mothers were included in the study. The collected data were entered into computerrnusing Epi data version 3.5 and analyzed using SPSS version 23. Logistic regression was fitted tornassess possible association and the strength of association was measured using odds ratio with 95%rnCI.rnResults: The study revealed that health seeking behavior was exhibited among 200 (49%) ofrnmothers who took their child to hospital/health facility immediately without any home intervention.rnEducational level of the mother (OR=5.6, 95% CI: 1.6-20.1), monthly income (OR=9.0, 95% CI:rn3.8-21.9), previous child illness (OR=6.3, 95% CI: 3.2-12.3) and mothers’ knowledge of generalrndanger signs (OR=2.6, 95% CI: 1.3-4.5) were found to have statistically significant associationrnwith health seeking behavior.rnConclusion: This study showed that almost half of the mothers sought appropriate health care fromrnboth government and private health institutions. Although this number seemed appreciable, givenrnthe positive phase of change in health sector of the country and the immediate need to seek carernfor general danger signs, the number is still not sufficient. Hence, continuous education of mothersrnon recognition of danger signs in children and the need to seek appropriate and immediate medicalrncare in health facilities should be implemented.rnKey words: General danger signs, Health seeking behavior,Bishoftu town, Mothers of the under-rnfive child

Get Full Work

Report copyright infringement or plagiarism