IDEAS home Printed from https://ideas.repec.org/a/plo/pone00/0161014.html
   My bibliography  Save this article

Health Care Seeking Behavior in Southwest Ethiopia

Author

Listed:
  • Bayu Begashaw
  • Fasil Tessema
  • Hailay Abrha Gesesew

Abstract

Background: Rural and urban populations have disparate socio-demographic and economic characteristics, which have an influence on equity and their health seeking behavior. We examined and compared the health care seeking behavior for perceived morbidity between urban and rural households in Southwest Ethiopia. Methods: Analytic cross-sectional study was conducted among urban and rural households living in Esera district of Southwest Ethiopia. A random sample of 388 head of households (126 urban and 262 rural) were selected. A pretested and structured questionnaire was used for data collection with face-to-face interview. In addition to descriptive methods, binary logistic regression was used to identify factors associated with health seeking behavior at p value of less than 0.05. Results: Of the sample household heads, 377 (97.2%) (119 urban and 258 rural) were successfully interviewed. Among these, 58.4% (95% CI, 53.3–63.3%) of the households sought care from modern health care that was lower among rural (48.1%) than urban (80.7%) households. The prevalence of self-treatment was 35.3% in urban and 46.1% in rural households. Among the factors considered for modern health care utilization, higher monthly income (AOR, 5.6; 95% CI, 2.04–15.4), perceived severity of disease (AOR, 2.5; 95% CI, 1.1–5.8), acute duration of disease (AOR, 8.9; 95% CI, 2.4–33.3) and short distance from health facilities (AOR, 3; 95% CI, 1.2–8.4) among rural and being married (AOR, 11.3; 95% CI, 1.2–110.2) and perceived severity of disease (AOR, 6.6; 95% CI, 1.1–10.9) among urban households showed statistically significant association. Conclusions: The general health seeking behavior of households on perceived morbidity was satisfactory but lower in rural compared to urban households. Self-medication was also widely practiced in the study area. The findings signal the need to work more on accessibility and promotion of healthcare seeking behavior especially among rural households.

Suggested Citation

  • Bayu Begashaw & Fasil Tessema & Hailay Abrha Gesesew, 2016. "Health Care Seeking Behavior in Southwest Ethiopia," PLOS ONE, Public Library of Science, vol. 11(9), pages 1-13, September.
  • Handle: RePEc:plo:pone00:0161014
    DOI: 10.1371/journal.pone.0161014
    as

    Download full text from publisher

    File URL: https://journals.plos.org/plosone/article?id=10.1371/journal.pone.0161014
    Download Restriction: no

    File URL: https://journals.plos.org/plosone/article/file?id=10.1371/journal.pone.0161014&type=printable
    Download Restriction: no

    File URL: https://libkey.io/10.1371/journal.pone.0161014?utm_source=ideas
    LibKey link: if access is restricted and if your library uses this service, LibKey will redirect you to where you can use your library subscription to access this item
    ---><---

    References listed on IDEAS

    as
    1. Stock, Robert, 1983. "Distance and the utilization of health facilities in rural Nigeria," Social Science & Medicine, Elsevier, vol. 17(9), pages 563-570, January.
    2. Thamar Klein, 2007. "Selecting therapies in Benin: making choices between informal, formal, private and public health services," Africa Spectrum, Institute of African Affairs, GIGA German Institute of Global and Area Studies, Hamburg, vol. 42(3), pages 461-481.
    3. Zhang, Tuohong & Liu, Xiaoyun & Bromley, Helen & Tang, Shenglan, 2007. "Perceptions of tuberculosis and health seeking behaviour in rural Inner Mongolia, China," Health Policy, Elsevier, vol. 81(2-3), pages 155-165, May.
    Full references (including those not matched with items on IDEAS)

    Citations

    Citations are extracted by the CitEc Project, subscribe to its RSS feed for this item.
    as


    Cited by:

    1. Kindie Mitiku Kebede & Sharew Mulugeta Geberetsadik, 2019. "Household satisfaction with community-based health insurance scheme and associated factors in piloted Sheko district; Southwest Ethiopia," PLOS ONE, Public Library of Science, vol. 14(5), pages 1-13, May.
    2. Ryuichi Ohta & Yoshinori Ryu & Chiaki Sano, 2022. "Older People’s Help-Seeking Behaviors in Rural Contexts: A Systematic Review," IJERPH, MDPI, vol. 19(6), pages 1-12, March.
    3. Ryuichi Ohta & Mikiya Sato & Jun Kitayuguchi & Tetsuhiro Maeno & Chiaki Sano, 2021. "Potential Help-Seeking Behaviors Associated with Better Self-Rated Health among Rural Older Patients: A Cross-Sectional Study," IJERPH, MDPI, vol. 18(17), pages 1-8, August.
    4. Ryuichi Ohta & Yoshinori Ryu & Chiaki Sano, 2022. "Improvement in Quality of Life through Self-Management of Mild Symptoms during the COVID-19 Pandemic: A Prospective Cohort Study," IJERPH, MDPI, vol. 19(11), pages 1-9, May.
    5. Ryuichi Ohta & Mikiya Sato & Jun Kitayuguchi & Tetsuhiro Maeno & Chiaki Sano, 2021. "The Association between the Self-Management of Mild Symptoms and Quality of Life of Elderly Populations in Rural Communities: A Cross-Sectional Study," IJERPH, MDPI, vol. 18(16), pages 1-10, August.

    Most related items

    These are the items that most often cite the same works as this one and are cited by the same works as this one.
    1. Aoun, Nael & Matsuda, Hirotaka & Sekiyama, Makiko, 2015. "Geographical accessibility to healthcare and malnutrition in Rwanda," Social Science & Medicine, Elsevier, vol. 130(C), pages 135-145.
    2. Gulati, Namrata & Ray, Tridip, 2016. "Inequality, neighbourhoods and welfare of the poor," Journal of Development Economics, Elsevier, vol. 122(C), pages 214-228.
    3. Murawski, Lisa & Church, Richard L., 2009. "Improving accessibility to rural health services: The maximal covering network improvement problem," Socio-Economic Planning Sciences, Elsevier, vol. 43(2), pages 102-110, June.
    4. Lawrence N Kazembe, 2013. "A Bayesian Two Part Model Applied to Analyze Risk Factors of Adult Mortality with Application to Data from Namibia," PLOS ONE, Public Library of Science, vol. 8(9), pages 1-10, September.
    5. Holger Weckmüller & Carles Barriocanal & Roser Maneja & Martí Boada, 2019. "Factors Affecting Traditional Medicinal Plant Knowledge of the Waorani, Ecuador," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 11(16), pages 1-12, August.
    6. Sangsang Qiu & Hongqiu Pan & Simin Zhang & Xianzhen Peng & Xianzhi Zheng & Guisheng Xu & Min Wang & Jianming Wang & Hui Lu, 2015. "Is Tuberculosis Treatment Really Free in China? A Study Comparing Two Areas with Different Management Models," PLOS ONE, Public Library of Science, vol. 10(5), pages 1-13, May.
    7. Johns, Benjamin & Steinhardt, Laura & Walker, Damian G. & Peters, David H. & Bishai, David, 2013. "Horizontal equity and efficiency at primary health care facilities in rural Afghanistan: A seemingly unrelated regression approach," Social Science & Medicine, Elsevier, vol. 89(C), pages 25-31.
    8. M. Hodgson & Soren Jacobsen, 2009. "A hierarchical location-allocation model with travel based on expected referral distances," Annals of Operations Research, Springer, vol. 167(1), pages 271-286, March.
    9. Tanser, Frank & Gijsbertsen, Brice & Herbst, Kobus, 2006. "Modelling and understanding primary health care accessibility and utilization in rural South Africa: An exploration using a geographical information system," Social Science & Medicine, Elsevier, vol. 63(3), pages 691-705, August.
    10. de Vries, H. & van de Klundert, J.J. & Wagelmans, A.P.M., 2013. "Health Benets of Roadside Healthcare Services," Econometric Institute Research Papers EI 2014-01, Erasmus University Rotterdam, Erasmus School of Economics (ESE), Econometric Institute.
    11. Jehu-Appiah, Caroline & Aryeetey, Genevieve & Spaan, Ernst & de Hoop, Thomas & Agyepong, Irene & Baltussen, Rob, 2011. "Equity aspects of the National Health Insurance Scheme in Ghana: Who is enrolling, who is not and why?," Social Science & Medicine, Elsevier, vol. 72(2), pages 157-165, January.
    12. Kathleen A. Alexander & Marcos Carzolio & Douglas Goodin & Eric Vance, 2013. "Climate Change is Likely to Worsen the Public Health Threat of Diarrheal Disease in Botswana," IJERPH, MDPI, vol. 10(4), pages 1-29, March.
    13. Saleh Babazadeh & Philip Anglewicz & Janna M Wisniewski & Patrick K Kayembe & Julie Hernandez & Jane T Bertrand, 2020. "The influence of health facility-level access measures on modern contraceptive use in Kinshasa, DRC," PLOS ONE, Public Library of Science, vol. 15(7), pages 1-20, July.
    14. Anthony Danso-Appiah & Wilma A Stolk & Kwabena M Bosompem & Joseph Otchere & Caspar W N Looman & J Dik F Habbema & Sake J de Vlas, 2010. "Health Seeking Behaviour and Utilization of Health Facilities for Schistosomiasis-Related Symptoms in Ghana," PLOS Neglected Tropical Diseases, Public Library of Science, vol. 4(11), pages 1-10, November.
    15. Daniel Adshead & Amelie Paszkowski & Sarah S. Gall & Alison M. Peard & Mohammed Sarfaraz Gani Adnan & Jasper Verschuur & Jim W. Hall, 2024. "Climate threats to coastal infrastructure and sustainable development outcomes," Nature Climate Change, Nature, vol. 14(4), pages 344-352, April.
    16. Yao, Jing & Murray, Alan T. & Agadjanian, Victor, 2013. "A geographical perspective on access to sexual and reproductive health care for women in rural Africa," Social Science & Medicine, Elsevier, vol. 96(C), pages 60-68.
    17. Saturnin Bertrand Nguenda Anya & Atanase Yene, 2016. "The determinants of the choice of treatment of pregnant women in Cameroon," Health Economics Review, Springer, vol. 6(1), pages 1-9, December.
    18. Phuong H Nguyen & Sunny S Kim & Tuan T Nguyen & Lan M Tran & Nemat Hajeebhoy & Edward A Frongillo & Marie T Ruel & Rahul Rawat & Purnima Menon, 2016. "Supply- and Demand-Side Factors Influencing Utilization of Infant and Young Child Feeding Counselling Services in Viet Nam," PLOS ONE, Public Library of Science, vol. 11(3), pages 1-17, March.
    19. Baba-Ari, Fatima & Eboreime, Ejemai Amaize & Hossain, Mazeda, 2018. "Conditional cash transfers for maternal health interventions: Factors influencing uptake in North-Central Nigeria," LSE Research Online Documents on Economics 101627, London School of Economics and Political Science, LSE Library.
    20. Gerard Rushton, 1984. "Use of Location-Allocation Models for Improving the Geographical Accessibility of Rural Services in Developing Countries," International Regional Science Review, , vol. 9(3), pages 217-240, December.

    More about this item

    Statistics

    Access and download statistics

    Corrections

    All material on this site has been provided by the respective publishers and authors. You can help correct errors and omissions. When requesting a correction, please mention this item's handle: RePEc:plo:pone00:0161014. See general information about how to correct material in RePEc.

    If you have authored this item and are not yet registered with RePEc, we encourage you to do it here. This allows to link your profile to this item. It also allows you to accept potential citations to this item that we are uncertain about.

    If CitEc recognized a bibliographic reference but did not link an item in RePEc to it, you can help with this form .

    If you know of missing items citing this one, you can help us creating those links by adding the relevant references in the same way as above, for each refering item. If you are a registered author of this item, you may also want to check the "citations" tab in your RePEc Author Service profile, as there may be some citations waiting for confirmation.

    For technical questions regarding this item, or to correct its authors, title, abstract, bibliographic or download information, contact: plosone (email available below). General contact details of provider: https://journals.plos.org/plosone/ .

    Please note that corrections may take a couple of weeks to filter through the various RePEc services.

    IDEAS is a RePEc service. RePEc uses bibliographic data supplied by the respective publishers.