ArticleBMC public health2016
Treatment-seeking behaviour for childhood fever among caretakers of Chivuna and Magoye rural communities of Mazabuka District, Zambia: a longitudinal study.
Article in BMC public health, 2016. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 20 papers, 1 of them a synthesis that pooled it.
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Who cites it
20 citing papers in PubMed, 1 synthesis or guideline pooled it.
- Delay in malaria care-seeking for children under five in Africa: a systematic review.Malaria journal · 2026Pooled it
- Article
- Evaluation of the impact of the state of emergency during the COVID-19 pandemic on childhood immunizations in Benguela Province, Angola.Tropical medicine and health · 2025Article
- Healthcare-seeking behaviour of fever cases in Magude district, southern Mozambique: A qualitative study.PloS one · 2025Article
- Analysis of care-seeking pathways and factors influencing early and appropriate care-seeking for malaria patients in the Republic of Guinea: a cross-sectional study.Malaria journal · 2024Article
- Article
- Prompt treatment-seeking behaviour varies within communities among guardians of children with malaria-related fever in Malawi.Malaria journal · 2023Article
- Self-Reported Symptoms at Last Febrile Illness as a Predictor of Treatment-Seeking in Western Kenya: A Cross-Sectional Study.The American journal of tropical medicine and hygiene · 2023Article
- Article
- A cross-sectional study on factors associated with health care seeking for acute respiratory infection and fever in children under-five in Zambia.The Pan African medical journal · 2023Article
- Article
- Article
- Timely health care seeking and first source of care for acute febrile illness in children in Hawassa, southern Ethiopia.PloS one · 2022Article
- Predictors of Health Seeking Behaviours for Common Childhood Illnesses in Poor Resource Settings in Zambia, A Community Cross Sectional Study.Frontiers in public health · 2021Article
- Rural-urban disparities and factors associated with delayed care-seeking and testing for malaria before medication use by mothers of under-five children, Igabi LGA, Kaduna Nigeria.Malaria journal · 2020Article
- Impact of substandard and falsified antimalarials in Zambia: application of the SAFARI model.BMC public health · 2020Article
- Predictors of diarrhea episodes and treatment-seeking behavior in under-five children: a longitudinal study from rural communities in Zambia.The Pan African medical journal · 2020Article
- Increased number of brought-in-dead cases with COVID-19: is it due to poor health-seeking behaviour among the Zambian population?The Pan African medical journal · 2020Article
- Multilevel Analysis of Factors Associated with Treatment-Seeking Behaviors among Caregivers with Febrile Children in Malawi.The American journal of tropical medicine and hygiene · 2019Article
- Care-seeking behaviour and treatment practices for malaria in children under 5 years in Mozambique: a secondary analysis of 2011 DHS and 2015 IMASIDA datasets.Malaria journal · 2019Observational
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4 authors.
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Abstract
backgroundTreatment-seeking for childhood fever among caretakers in most rural parts of African region is still a major challenge. The aim of this study was to determine the treatment seeking behaviour for fever in under-5 children of Magoye and Chivuna rural areas of Mazabuka district in Zambia.
methodsTreatment-seeking behaviour was explored longitudinally among caretakers of 362 children aged 12-59 months with fever. The data was collected from caretakers using a structured interviewer-administered questionnaire at their homes. Chi-square test, one-sample test of proportions and logistic regression were the statistical methods used for data analysis.
resultsOf the 362 children with fever, 77 % of them had their treatment sought externally. In which 64 % had their treatment at health facility (HF), 18 % from community health workers (CHW), and 18 % from other sources. Early treatment (≤ 24 h) was sought for 42 % of the fever episodes. In dry season, a child had 1.53 times more likely to have early treatment compared to rainy season [OR 1.53; 95 % CI 1.30, 1.80; p < 0.001]. A child in Chivuna was less likely to have early treatment compared to one in Magoye [OR 0.62; 95 % CI 0.50, 0.76; p < 0.001]. Caretakers had a reduced chance of 27 % [OR 0.73; 95 % CI 0.56, 0.95; p = 0.022] of seeking early treatment if they took a child to other sources compared to a HF.
conclusionThis study has revealed that seeking early and appropriate treatment was suboptimal in the study areas. Source of treatment, season and location were predictors of early treatment of fever among caretakers. Policies aimed at combating poor care-seeking behaviour should not omit to address these factors.
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