ArticleBMC health services research2019
Household relationships and healthcare seeking behaviour for common childhood illnesses in sub-Saharan Africa: a cross-national mixed effects analysis.
Article in BMC health services research, 2019. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 44 papers, 3 of them syntheses that pooled it.
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Who cites it
44 citing papers in PubMed, 3 syntheses or guidelines pooled it, 67 citations in OpenAlex.
- Perinatal mortality in eastern Africa: A systematic review and meta-analysis.International journal of gynaecology and obstetrics: the official organ of the International Federation of Gynaecology and Obstetrics · 2026Pooled it
- Health seeking behaviours among construction workers: a systematic review.BMC public health · 2026Pooled it
- The use of traditional medicine practitioner services for childhood illnesses among childbearing women: a multilevel analysis of demographic and health surveys in 32 sub-Saharan African countries.BMC complementary medicine and therapies · 2023Pooled it
- Right-sizing Incentives.Journal of development economics · 2026Article
- Integrated approaches to improve the nutritional status of children under five: a positive deviance hearth model in Bomet county, Kenya.BMC nutrition · 2026Article
- Factors shaping health-seeking behavior among Myanmar migrant workers in Chiang Rai, Thailand.BMC public health · 2026Article
- Health system readiness for immediate Kangaroo Mother Care (iKMC) among network of care facilities in the Sidama region, Ethiopia: a mixed-method study.Gates open research · 2026Article
- Article
- Determinants of complete antenatal care in Sub-Saharan Africa: a multilevel analysis of Demographic and Health Surveys from 28 countries.Frontiers in global women's health · 2026Article
- Care pathways for critically ill children aged 0-5 years arriving at district hospitals in Burkina Faso, Guinea, Mali, and Niger (2022): a cross-sectional study.BMC public health · 2025Article
- Household health-seeking behaviour and response to Informal payment: does economic status matter?Health economics review · 2025Review
- Prevalence and factors associated with awareness and use of HIV self-testing kits among young women aged 15-24 in Ghana.AIDS research and therapy · 2025Article
- Medical treatment-seeking behaviour for childhood diarrhea among Haitian mothers: secondary data analysis from the 2016-2017 Haitian demographic and health survey.BMC pediatrics · 2025Article
- Health seeking behaviour of caregivers of children under five and its determinants in Ho West and Adaklu districts, Volta Region, Ghana: a community-based cross-sectional study.BMC public health · 2025Article
- Healthcare utilisation for febrile diseases in northern Tanzania: a randomised population-based cluster survey.BMJ global health · 2025Article
- Household healthcare seeking patterns for emergent ill-health in Migori, Western Kenya.Frontiers in public health · 2025Article
- Maternal Decision-Making Power and Care-Seeking Behaviors for Acutely Ill Children: A Multilevel Analysis of 33 Sub-Saharan African Countries.The American journal of tropical medicine and hygiene · 2024Article
- Magnitude and determinant of healthcare-seeking behavior for childhood acute respiratory tract infections in Ethiopia: a cross-sectional study.BMC pediatrics · 2024Article
- Healthcare-seeking behavior for diarrhea in under-five children and associated factors in sub-Saharan Africa: a multilevel robust Poisson regression model.Frontiers in public health · 2024Article
- Factors associated with mother's healthcare-seeking behavior for symptoms of acute respiratory infection in under-five children in sub-Saharan Africa: a multilevel robust Poisson regression modelling.BMC health services research · 2023Article
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Authors and funding
5 authors at 3 institutions in 2 countries.
Funding
No grant is acknowledged in the PubMed record.
Abstract
backgroundIntra-household dynamics play crucial roles in utilisation of healthcare services for children. We investigated the influence of household relationships on healthcare seeking behaviour for common childhood illnesses in four sub-Sahara African regions.
methodsData on 247,061 under-five children were extracted from recent Demographic and Health Surveys conducted between 2012 and 2016 in 25 countries. Data were combined and analysed per sub-region. Dependent variables (DVs) were uptake of health facility care for diarrhea and Acute Respiratory Tract Infection (ARI) symptoms. The main independent variable (IV) was household relationship which was represented by maternal marital profile (marital status, family type and number of marriages) and maternal relationship to household head. Mixed effects logit models were fitted to assess independent relationship between the IVs and DVs with adjustment for relevant demographic and socio-economic characteristics at 5% significance level.
resultsThe percentage of children who received care for diarrhea and ARI symptoms from health facilities across sub-regions was: Western Africa (WA) 42.4, 44.1%; Central Africa (CA) 32.6, 33.9%; Eastern Africa (EA) 41.5, 48.7% and Southern Africa (SA) 58.9, 62.7%. Maternal marital profile was not associated with healthcare seeking behaviour for diarrhea and ARI symptoms in any of the sub-regions. Children whose mothers were daughter/daughter-in-law to household head were significantly less likely to be taken to health facility for diarrhea treatment in Eastern Africa (AOR = 0.81, CI: 0.51-0.95). Having a mother who is the head of household was significantly associated with higher odds of facility care for ARI symptoms for children from Western (AOR = 1.20, CI: 1.02-1.43) and Southern Africa (AOR = 1.49, CI: 1.20-1.85).
conclusionThe type of relationship between mother of under-fives and head of households affect health seeking behaviour for treatment of diarrhea and ARI symptoms in Eastern, Western and Southern Africa. Countries in these regions need to adapt best practices for promoting healthcare utilisation for children such that household relationship does not constitute barriers.
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