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Factors associated with delay in treatment-seeking behaviour for fever cases among caregivers of under-five children in India: Evidence from the National Family Health Survey-4, 2015–16

BACKGROUND: Fever is one of the common clinical symptoms found among children suffering from various illnesses. India carries a substantial burden of febrile illness among under-five children which heighten the risk of malnutrition, mortality and morbidity. This study aims to determine the factors a...

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Detalles Bibliográficos
Autores principales: Debsarma, Dhiman, Saha, Jayanti, Ghosh, Sagar
Formato: Online Artículo Texto
Lenguaje:English
Publicado: Public Library of Science 2022
Materias:
Acceso en línea:https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC9202928/
https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/35709164
http://dx.doi.org/10.1371/journal.pone.0269844
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author Debsarma, Dhiman
Saha, Jayanti
Ghosh, Sagar
author_facet Debsarma, Dhiman
Saha, Jayanti
Ghosh, Sagar
author_sort Debsarma, Dhiman
collection PubMed
description BACKGROUND: Fever is one of the common clinical symptoms found among children suffering from various illnesses. India carries a substantial burden of febrile illness among under-five children which heighten the risk of malnutrition, mortality and morbidity. This study aims to determine the factors associated with delay in treatment-seeking for fever among under-five children in India. METHODS: A cross-sectional study was carried out using the large-scale nationally representative data from the National Family Health Survey (NFHS-4), conducted in 2015–2016. The data were collected by using four survey questionnaires i.e., Household Questionnaire, Woman’s Questionnaire, Man’s Questionnaire, and Biomarker Questionnaire. Delay in treatment-seeking was defined as taking a child for treatment after 24 hours of fever onset. Bivariate and multivariate logistic regression models were performed to assess the factors associated with delay in treatment-seeking behaviour for fever in under-five children. RESULTS: In India, 31.12% (n = 7229) of the caregivers sought treatment for children after 24 hours of the onset of fever. Findings show no significant differences in delay in treatment-seeking behaviour by age groups and sex of children. Multivariate analysis revealed that the odds of delay in treatment-seeking behaviour of fever were higher among children from the poorest wealth quintile (AOR: 2.06; 95% CI: 1.85, 2.31), belonging to the scheduled tribe (AOR: 1.35; 95% CI: 1.24, 1.48), children who resided in rural areas (AOR: 1.14; 95% CI: 1.07, 1.22), children from the northeast region (AOR: 1.29; 95% CI: 1.14, 1.46), and children of caregivers who perceived distance to health facilities as a ‘big problem’ (AOR: 1.16; 95% CI: 1.09, 1.23). CONCLUSION: The study shows a high prevalence of delay in seeking treatment for fever among caregivers of under-five children in India. Delay in seeking treatment is associated with socio-demographic and socio-economic factors. Therefore, there is a need for intensified health promotion programs to sensitize caregivers on the importance of early health-seeking behaviour.
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spelling pubmed-92029282022-06-17 Factors associated with delay in treatment-seeking behaviour for fever cases among caregivers of under-five children in India: Evidence from the National Family Health Survey-4, 2015–16 Debsarma, Dhiman Saha, Jayanti Ghosh, Sagar PLoS One Research Article BACKGROUND: Fever is one of the common clinical symptoms found among children suffering from various illnesses. India carries a substantial burden of febrile illness among under-five children which heighten the risk of malnutrition, mortality and morbidity. This study aims to determine the factors associated with delay in treatment-seeking for fever among under-five children in India. METHODS: A cross-sectional study was carried out using the large-scale nationally representative data from the National Family Health Survey (NFHS-4), conducted in 2015–2016. The data were collected by using four survey questionnaires i.e., Household Questionnaire, Woman’s Questionnaire, Man’s Questionnaire, and Biomarker Questionnaire. Delay in treatment-seeking was defined as taking a child for treatment after 24 hours of fever onset. Bivariate and multivariate logistic regression models were performed to assess the factors associated with delay in treatment-seeking behaviour for fever in under-five children. RESULTS: In India, 31.12% (n = 7229) of the caregivers sought treatment for children after 24 hours of the onset of fever. Findings show no significant differences in delay in treatment-seeking behaviour by age groups and sex of children. Multivariate analysis revealed that the odds of delay in treatment-seeking behaviour of fever were higher among children from the poorest wealth quintile (AOR: 2.06; 95% CI: 1.85, 2.31), belonging to the scheduled tribe (AOR: 1.35; 95% CI: 1.24, 1.48), children who resided in rural areas (AOR: 1.14; 95% CI: 1.07, 1.22), children from the northeast region (AOR: 1.29; 95% CI: 1.14, 1.46), and children of caregivers who perceived distance to health facilities as a ‘big problem’ (AOR: 1.16; 95% CI: 1.09, 1.23). CONCLUSION: The study shows a high prevalence of delay in seeking treatment for fever among caregivers of under-five children in India. Delay in seeking treatment is associated with socio-demographic and socio-economic factors. Therefore, there is a need for intensified health promotion programs to sensitize caregivers on the importance of early health-seeking behaviour. Public Library of Science 2022-06-16 /pmc/articles/PMC9202928/ /pubmed/35709164 http://dx.doi.org/10.1371/journal.pone.0269844 Text en © 2022 Debsarma et al https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/This is an open access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License (https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/) , which permits unrestricted use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original author and source are credited.
spellingShingle Research Article
Debsarma, Dhiman
Saha, Jayanti
Ghosh, Sagar
Factors associated with delay in treatment-seeking behaviour for fever cases among caregivers of under-five children in India: Evidence from the National Family Health Survey-4, 2015–16
title Factors associated with delay in treatment-seeking behaviour for fever cases among caregivers of under-five children in India: Evidence from the National Family Health Survey-4, 2015–16
title_full Factors associated with delay in treatment-seeking behaviour for fever cases among caregivers of under-five children in India: Evidence from the National Family Health Survey-4, 2015–16
title_fullStr Factors associated with delay in treatment-seeking behaviour for fever cases among caregivers of under-five children in India: Evidence from the National Family Health Survey-4, 2015–16
title_full_unstemmed Factors associated with delay in treatment-seeking behaviour for fever cases among caregivers of under-five children in India: Evidence from the National Family Health Survey-4, 2015–16
title_short Factors associated with delay in treatment-seeking behaviour for fever cases among caregivers of under-five children in India: Evidence from the National Family Health Survey-4, 2015–16
title_sort factors associated with delay in treatment-seeking behaviour for fever cases among caregivers of under-five children in india: evidence from the national family health survey-4, 2015–16
topic Research Article
url https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC9202928/
https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/35709164
http://dx.doi.org/10.1371/journal.pone.0269844
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