Understanding factors influencing care seeking for sick children in Ebonyi and Kogi States, Nigeria

BACKGROUND: Nigeria has one of the highest child mortality rates in the world, with an estimated 750,000 deaths annually among children under age five. The majority of these deaths are due to pneumonia, malaria, or diarrhea. Many parents do not seek sick-child care from trained, biomedical providers, contributing to this high rate of mortality. METHODS: This qualitative study explores factors enabling or preventing parents from seeking care for sick under-five children in Nigeria’s Kogi and Ebonyi states, including gender-related roles and social norms. Interviews were conducted with parents of sick under-five children and service providers, and focus group discussions were held with community leaders to assess how care-seeking behavior was influenced by four modes from the Colvin et al. conceptual framework for household decision-making and pathways to care. These include (1) caregivers’ recognition and response to illness, (2) seeking advice and negotiating access within the family, (3) making use of community-based treatment options, and (4) accessing biomedical services. RESULTS: Parents were found to have a general understanding of illness symptoms but did not always attribute illness to biomedical causes. Intra-household decision-making processes were shaped by gender dynamics between men and women, and were found to have great effects on decisions to seek care. Use of traditional medicine and self-treatment were found to be common first steps in treatment before turning to the biomedical care system. Once the decision to seek biomedical care was taken, the route of seeking care varied between seeking care at chemists and then continuing to health facilities or starting with a health facility and then accessing prescriptions from a chemist. CONCLUSION: We conclude that care-seeking decisions do not follow a linear process; that intra-household decision-making processes particularly among parents should not be underestimated in addressing sick-child care seeking; and that, given the role of mothers as primary caregivers, their knowledge in illness recognition and agency in care-seeking decision-making, and seeking biomedical care, is deserving of future study.