Evidence map›Paper›PMID 40745298›Full record

ArticleBMC health services research2025

Morbidity and health seeking behavior among children and adolescents (0-19 years): a household survey assessment in Northwestern Tanzania.

Sophia Kagoye, Jim Todd, Milly Marston, Mark Urassa, Eveline T Konje, Ties Boerma

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Article in BMC health services research, 2025. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 1 paper.

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1 · What the graph read from it

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2 · The registry

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3 · Its place in the literature

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1 citing paper in PubMed.

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4 · The record

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5 · Who and what money

Authors and funding

6 authors.

Sophia KagoyeDepartment of Sexual and Reproductive Health, National Institute for Medical Research, Mwanza Research Centre, Mwanza, Tanzania. sophyadam90@gmail.com.
Jim ToddDepartment of Epidemiology and Biostatistics, Catholic University of Health and Allied Sciences, Mwanza, Tanzania.
Milly MarstonDepartment of Population Health, London School of Hygiene and Tropical Medicine, London, UK.
Mark UrassaDepartment of Sexual and Reproductive Health, National Institute for Medical Research, Mwanza Research Centre, Mwanza, Tanzania.
Eveline T KonjeDepartment of Epidemiology and Biostatistics, Catholic University of Health and Allied Sciences, Mwanza, Tanzania.
Ties BoermaCommunity Health Science, University of Manitoba, Winnipeg, MB, Canada.

Funding

Post-Doctoral Fellowship Training in HIV Clinical InvestigationD43TW011826 · FIC · WEILL MEDICAL COLL OF CORNELL UNIV · PI Daniel W Fitzgerald, Saidi Kapiga · 2021 to 2026
$1.9M
Canada Research Chairs INV 001299FIC NIH HHS D43 TW011826Gates Foundation INV-001299
6 · The paper itself

Abstract

backgroundInformation on morbidity and health-seeking behavior beyond early childhood is crucial for planning evidence-based interventions. Currently, data is limited to children under five. This study introduces a method for estimating morbidity and health-seeking behavior in older children and adolescents (5-19 years) using women's birth histories from a household survey in northwestern Tanzania, comparing it with data on children under five.

methodsWe conducted a household survey among women 15-49 years as part of the Magu Health and Demographic Surveillance from October 2020 to November 2021, including 16,896 children aged 0-19 living with their mothers. The study outcomes were the prevalence of reported illness in the last four weeks and health-seeking behavior, defined as visiting a health facility for recent illness. Modified Poisson regression analysis was performed, accounting for mothers as clusters and adjusting for child and mother characteristics. We compared the prevalence of recent illness and health-seeking behavior among older children and adolescents (5-19 years) with children under five within the same population.

resultsMorbidity presented as the prevalence of any illness decreased with age, from 26.1% in children under-five to 10.4% among adolescents aged 15-19. Health seeking behavior also decreased with age, from 48.2% in children under-five to nearly 30% among adolescents aged 15-19. Types of illnesses reported were similar across age groups, with Fever/Malaria accounting more than two-thirds, followed by respiratory tract illnesses. Higher illness prevalence was noted in rural areas for both age groups. Health seeking behavior was higher among mothers with secondary education and above for both children under-fives (APR:1.22;95% CI: 1.02, 1.47) and 5-19-year-olds (APR: 1.31; 95% CI:1.01, 1.70). Additionally, those with health insurance also reported higher health seeking behavior (APR: 1.38; 95% CI:1.07, 1.78), while lower for children in rural households (APR: 0.72; 95% CI:0.61, 0.83), for 5-19-year-olds.

conclusionsOur findings on morbidity and health-seeking behavior demonstrate the importance of extending health monitoring beyond early childhood. The inequalities identified point to gaps in programming and health service delivery that require attention.

Indexed as

Patient Acceptance of Health CareAdolescentAdultChildChild, PreschoolFemaleHumansInfantInfant, NewbornMaleMiddle AgedMorbidityPrevalenceTanzaniaYoung Adult5–19Birth historyHealth seeking behaviorMorbidityRecent illnessTreatment seeking

Identifiers

PMID40745298
PMCPMC12315430

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Read under generation 80e0d062 · epoch 390. Bibliography from PubMed, PubMed Central and OpenAlex; grants from NIH RePORTER; trial links from ClinicalTrials.gov; estimates, votes and beliefs from the OpenQuestion graph.