Effect of community integrated management of childhood illness on mothers’ healthcare-seeking behaviour and home management of childhood illness in Ile-Ife, South-West Nigeria: A household survey

Abstract

Background. Care-seeking interventions, as part of community integrated management of childhood illness (CIMCI), have the potential to substantially reduce child mortality in countries where common childhood illnesses are a major problem. Prompt and appropriate careseeking practices are important to avoid many deaths attributed to delays in or not seeking care, particularly in developing countries such as Nigeria.
Objective. To assess the effect of community-level intervention on mothers’ care-seeking behaviour for common childhood illnesses and related influencing factors.
Methods. The study had a comparative cross-sectional design and was conducted in two local government areas (LGAs) of Osun State, South-West Nigeria. A total of 722 mothers of index children aged <5 years were selected through a multistage cluster sampling technique. Data were collected and analysed using SPSS version 16.0. Descriptive, bivariate and multivariate analyses were performed.
Results. Care-seeking for children who reported illness was higher in the CIMCI-implementing LGA (90.2%) compared with 74.8% in the non-implementing LGA (p=0.002). Care was sought within the first 48 hours of perceived onset of illness for 83.2% and 57.9% of sick children in the CIMCI-implementing and non-implementing LGAs, respectively. Residing in a CIMCI-implementing area (odds ratio (OR) 2.54, 95% confidence interval (CI) 1.24 - 5.45) and maternal education level (OR 1.50, 95% CI 1.06 - 3.03) were identified as predictors of healthcare-seeking practices among mothers.
Conclusion. The study concluded that a high level of care-seeking behaviour exists where community-level intervention was operating. Therefore the CIMCI programme should be strengthened further and also scaled up to include non-implementing communities.