Contributing factors of delay in seeking treatment for childhood diarrheal diseases in Berbere Woreda, Ethiopia: an unmatched case–control study

BACKGROUND: A major cause of diarrheal illness mortality is a failure to seek immediate medical assistance. There is currently no evidence on the reasons that induce caregivers in Berbere Woreda to delayed seeking timely treatment for under-five children with diarrheal illnesses. As a result, the goal of this study was to identify determinants of delay in seeking timely treatment for childhood diarrheal diseases in Berbere Woreda, Bale Zone Oromia Region, South Eastern Ethiopia. METHODS: An unmatched case–control study on 418 child caregivers was conducted from April to May 2021. Cases were 209 children and their caregivers who sought treatment after 24 h of the onset of diarrheal disease symptoms, and controls were 209 children and their mothers/caregivers who sought treatment within 24 h of the onset of diarrheal disease symptoms. Data were collected through interviews and chart reviews using consecutive sampling. A multivariable logistic regression analysis was carried out, with variables with a P-value of 0.05 considered statistically significant. The Hosmer–Lemshow goodness of fit test was used to validate the model, and the variance inflation factor (VIF) was used to test for multi-collinearity. RESULTS: In this study, we found that among 418 participants, determinants of delay in seeking timely treatment for childhood diarrheal diseases included mothers with more than two under-five children (AOR = 2.23, 95% CI 1.21–4.11), Divorce (AOR = 2.62, 95% CI 1.087–2.76), age of children < 24 months (AOR = 1.597, 95%,CI (1.008–2.531), and preference for a government health facility for treatment (AOR = 2.56, 95% CI 1.51–4.34). Besides, the odds of mothers aged 25–34 years being two times more likely to delay seeking timely treatment for 5 children with diarrhea were 1.537 (0.560–4.213). CONCLUSIONS: Age of children, age of mothers, number of children, preference of health facilities, and marital status were factors influencing the failure to seek treatment within 24 h of recognizing diarrhea in children under the age of five.