Determinants Of Maternal And Child Health Care Service Utilization Among Mothers Of Mount Elgon Constituency Bungoma, Kenya

Purpose: To investigating the determinants of maternal and child health care service utilization among mothers of Mt. Elgon Constituency in Bungoma County. Specifically, to determine client characteristics and examine health facility factors in the study area.. Methodology: A descriptive-analytical cross-sectional study design was adopted using mixed methods for data collection. A total of 510 respondents in a population 36,200 women within childbearing age, were randomly selected using multistage cluster sampling were interviewed between January to March 2019. Data entry and analysis was done using SPSS Version 25 software. Descriptive and inferential statistical analyses were used. Bivariate and multivariate logistic regressions were applied and odds ratio used to determine the strength of association. A p-value of ≤ 0.05 was considered as statistically significant. Findings: Unemployment (OR: 0.6; 95% CI: 0.4 - 0.9; p = 0.02); lack of mobile clinic (OR: 0.7; 95% CI: 0.4 - 1.0; p = 0.06 ); use of interpreter (OR: 0.2; 95% CI: 0.01 - 0.81; p = 0.02); service provided in public facilities (OR: 0.5; 95% CI: 0.3 - 0.8; p = 0.004); being too busy (OR: 0.5; 95% CI: 0.3 - 0.9; p = 0.02); consulting health care workers (OR: 0.5; 95% CI: 0.2 - 0.9; p = 0.03); not consulting elders (OR: 0.7; 95% CI: 0.4 - 1.0; p = 0.08) and time taken to hospital (OR: 0.5; 95% CI: 0.3 - 0.8; p = 0.007) were significantly associated with utilization of maternal and child health services. The determinants of maternal and child health care service utilization in Mt. Elgon Sub-County are women who are employed (OR: 2.8; 95% CI: 1.1 - 7.3; p=0.03) and having visited facility as a patient (OR: 0.5; 95% CI: 0.3 - 0.9; p=0.03). Unique Contribution to Theory, Practice, and Policy: The study findings have identified key factors that are unique to a marginalized community of Mt. Elgon on predisposing, enabling and the need characteristics. These results contribute to both maternal and child health care practice and policy change that could directly meet the cultural needs of the marginalized community.