scholarly journals Health seeking behaviour among post menopausal women in rural and urban field practice areas of Gandhi Medical College, Hyderabad: a cross-sectional study

Author(s):  
M. Sheeba Apoorva ◽  
Vimala Thomas

Background: The phase of menopause is a physiological event which occurs as a result of progression of reproductive ageing. Women from developing countries view variations due to menopause as natural process and there is no need for medical care. The objective of the study was to assess the health seeking behaviour among the post menopausal women.Methods: A cross-sectional study was conducted in the rural and urban field practice areas of department of Community Medicine of Gandhi Medical College, Hyderabad. About 300 urban and 300 rural women were interviewed using a semi-structured and pretested questionnaire from August 2015 to September 2017.Results: Among the rural women, 100 (25.4%) women did not seek health care and among those who sought health care, majority (34.3%) preferred government healthcare services followed by 23% who consulted private facility. Of the urban women, 14.7% did not seek health care, 42% of the women approached private practitioner followed by 23% who sought health care in government hospital. Majority of the women (42.2%) did not seek health care as they thought they will be normal with time.Conclusions: More than one third of the women are not aware of menopause and related problems. Among those who did not seek health care, higher proportion felt they will be Ok with time followed by financial constraints, fear/shy, family problems and lack of transport. 

2021 ◽  
Vol 9 ◽  
Author(s):  
Golden Apuleni ◽  
Choolwe Jacobs ◽  
Patrick Musonda

Background: Developing countries, including Zambia, account for larger share of child morbidities and mortalities due to common childhood illnesses. Studies on wider determinants of behaviour pertaining to treatment seeking for childhood febrile illnesses in poor resource settings are limited. This study investigated health seeking behaviours of mothers in poor resource settings of Zambia and identified associated factors.Methods: Secondary data from a community cross sectional study design from the Health for the Poorest Population (HPP) Project was analysed between March and May 2019. Data was collected between May and August, 2013. It was collected by means of administering a structured questionnaire from the mothers of under-five children. The survey took place in Samfya and Chiengi of Luapula province while in Northern Province, Luwingu and Mungwi were settled for. A total of 1 653 mothers of under 5 years who had an episode of diarrhoea, malaria, pneumonia or a combination of any of them not more than 14 days before the interview were included in the study. A sample size was arrived at using A Lot Quality Assurance Sampling (LQAS) method. In order to determine the associations between respondent's demographic characteristics and health seeking behaviour, chi square test of independence was carried out. Multivariable logistic regression was also done to identify predictors of health seeking behaviours for common childhood illnesses in children aged <5 years old in poor resource settings.Results: Among the mothers interviewed, 64.6% were married while 35.4% were unmarried. Their mean age was 32 years. Mothers who took their sick children to the health facilities for the purpose of seeking health care for their child for either of the illnesses accounted for 75.2%, [95% CI: 0.62–0.96], while 24.8% did not seek health care for their sick child. Factors typically associated with health seeking behaviours were mothers' marital status [aOR = 0.74; 95% CI: 0.58–0.94], and mothers ‘education level [aOR = 1.47; 95% CI: 1.13–1.92].Conclusion: It was established in this study that health care seeking behaviours for these common childhood illnesses in poor resource settings was relatively high and could be predicted by mother's education level and mothers' marital status. Integrating interventions targeted at increasing utilisation of maternal and child health services with basic education to women and moral support counselling to families may potentially maximise health seeking behaviours in marginalised communities.


Author(s):  
Anupam Parashar ◽  
Nidhi Chauhan ◽  
Rahul Gupta ◽  
Vineet Kumar

Background: Bio-ethics i.e. health care ethics is a set of moral principles, beliefs and values that guide us in making choices about medical care. This novel study was carried out with an objective of assessment of knowledge regarding the medical ethics among the resident doctors of Indira Gandhi Medical College, Shimla Himachal Pradesh.Methods: This descriptive analytical cross-sectional study was conducted at Indira Gandhi Medical College (IGMC), Shimla, Himachal Pradesh among the resident doctors using predesigned, structured, self-administered anonymous close-ended questionnaire. We analyzed the data using Stata software version 12.Results: There were a total of 61 study participants, who consented to participate, of which more than half were females (52.5%). The mean age of the study participants was 28.6±0.63 years. Regarding the source of knowledge about medical ethics most of the study participants had acquired the information during their experience at their workplace (42.6%). A majority of the male participants disagreed that confidentiality while providing the health care services should be abandoned (54.3%). More than 90% of the study participants agreed that incorporation of medical ethics is necessary in undergraduate curriculum.Conclusions: Incorporation of a formal structured teaching on medical ethics in the undergraduate curriculum is the need of the hour. Besides research work, the medical ethics committee in the institution should also act as the guiding hands to address the grievances faced by the doctors during medical practice.


Author(s):  
Kalyan Chakravarthy Burra ◽  
Chandrashekhar Varaprasadrao Dimmala

Background: The attitude of parents towards their children’s health and illness is an important factor with regards to child’s overall development. In most developing countries, the health of the children is strongly dependent on parental healthcare behavior. This current study mainly looks into these aspects.Methods: A community based cross sectional study involving urban and rural area field practice areas of a medical college in the study period of November 2016-January 2017 with a sample size of 100 families each having children in urban and rural areas have been fixed purposively. House to house survey done by simple random method using pretested semi structured interview schedules.Results: Around 55% of rural parents took treatment from RMP (quacks) with 55% of urban counterparts opting for wait and watch method. Only 8% of respondents from both areas too their children to a pediatrician. About 12% of urban area went to government hospital and none from rural utilized government hospital facilities.Conclusions: Large proportions of respondents did not seek appropriate medical care for childhood illnesses. 


Objectives: Healthcare is the right of every individual but lack of quality infrastructure, lack of quality infrastructure, dearth of qualified medical functionaries and non-access to basic medicines and medical facilities thwarts the reach of health care services to rural population. Women are burdened from diseases and injury related to sexuality and child bearing and scenario is worst for rural women. This study highlights the ignorance and neglecting of her own health by women because of her familial and social responsibilities. Material & method: A cross-sectional descriptive study conducted in a newly established rural medical college from Jan 2012 to September 2015. Data analyzed statistically with spss20. Results: 948 major gynecological procedures performed during this time period, uterovaginal prolapse was the most common (43.88%) symptom and vaginal hysterectomy with pelvic floor repair was most common (36.70%) performed procedure. Sociodemographic profile revealed a mean age of 46.67+2.44 year (46.51%),grand multiparty (56.21%), illiteracy (65.62%) ,rural locality (80.06%), agriculture laborer (64.14%)and low socioeconomic status (62.93%) as the characteristics of women we operated. 33.01% patients took 10 years or more to seek health care for their ailments. Conclusion: It’s high time for the society and for women themselves to stand together and take steps to bring change in their living conditions and health status.


2021 ◽  
Vol 8 (10) ◽  
pp. 1566
Author(s):  
Vinay Jishtu ◽  
Pramod K. Jaret ◽  
Prem Chand Machhan ◽  
Nidhi Chauhan

Background: Acute undifferentiated fever illness (AUFI) is a common cause of morbidity and mortality in developing countries, owing to its non-specific features. The aim of the study was to delineate the causes and clinical parameters associated with AUFI.Methods: A cross-sectional study was done among 156 patients of AUFI, admitted in the Department of Medicine, Indira Gandhi Medical College, Shimla, Himachal Pradesh, India, from November 2018 to October 2019.Results: The mean age of the study participants was 37.37±14.2 years. The study participants admitted for acute undifferentiated febrile illness had fever with mean duration of 8.38±3.7 days before hospitalization. The most common aetiology of AUFI was found to be enteric fever (44%), followed by scrub typhus (35%). The majority of the cases presented from the month of September to December.Conclusions: The aetiology and clinical spectrum of AUFI is wide and variable. To outline a proper algorithm to contain it, meticulous analysis of the hospital data at each level is necessary.


Author(s):  
Ananthi Kasinathan ◽  
Himabindu Nagulapally

Background: Knowledge and access to contraception is the basic right of every woman. This is one of the goals of National family planning programme. This study gauges the knowledge of antenatal women about temporary contraceptive methods available in our outpatient department and their attitude towards its practice.Methods: This is a descriptive cross-sectional study carried out at Indira Gandhi medical college and research institute, Puducherry, between March 2019 to May 2019. 270 pregnant women were chosen and with their consent, using a predesigned questionnaire, their awareness regarding contraception was assessed. Then each participant was counselled regarding the various methods and their attitude towards choosing a temporary contraceptive method was assessed using a questionnaire. The data was entered in SPSS software and analyzed.Results: In this study, 88.8% belonged to 20-30 years, 77% had received school education and 80.3% were home makers. 72.9% were primigravidas. 55.8% of primis and 95.8% of multis knew about spacing. In primis, 67.5% knew about IUCDs. In multis, 95.8% knew about condoms. Knowledge of depo provera was poor. The most preferred contraceptive was condom followed by CuT and pills.Conclusions: This study shows that it is important to create awareness about temporary contraceptive methods and its free availability in the hospitals. Further pregnant women need to be given more information about oral pills, emergency and injectable contraceptive methods. The Government has to work in unison with hospitals and its staff along with the media to achieve this goal.


2021 ◽  
Author(s):  
Gerili Zaya ◽  
Shijia Li ◽  
Jingyu Pan ◽  
Jinyu Zhang ◽  
Anita Näslindh-Ylispangar ◽  
...  

Abstract Background Though relevant education and clinical practice could promote health-seeking behavior, nurses and nursing students may not actively seek healthcare. Methods This was a cross-sectional study using an adaptation of the self-reported Health Behavior Questionnaire (HBQ) including sociocultural background, lifestyle, self-assessment of life, health care utilization, and health counseling. 199 valid samples were acquired by convenient sampling. Univariate analysis, Spearman rank correlation, Pearson correlation, and multivariate linear regression were used to analyze the data. Results Cultural background, living with family, employment, most items in lifestyle, and all items in perceived life status were correlated with health-seeking behavior. A multivariate linear regression verified the influence of alcohol consumption, financial situation, and work situation on the experience of health care utilization, as well as the influence of physical health and interpersonal relationship on the experience of health counseling. Conclusions Less alcohol consumption, better financial situation, and better work situation are positively correlated with health care utilization. Better physical health and sounder interpersonal relationships can improve health counseling. The effect of other factors needs further exploration. Cohort studies could be used to investigate the long-term change in health-seeking behavior.


Author(s):  
Sachi Ojha ◽  
Shitanshu Srivastava ◽  
Pratibha Gupta ◽  
Divyanshu Agrawal

Background: Breastfeeding is the ideal source of nutrition for first six month of life which is globally recognised. There are various advantages of optimal breastfeeding but still breastfeeding rates in Uttar Pradesh is only 56%. This might be attributed to various social, cultural and economical factors. Since there is limited local data on the knowledge, attitudes and practices of women toward breastfeeding. hence, we planned this study to assess knowledge, attitude and practices (KAP) of mothers regarding breastfeeding and influence of sociodemographic profile on them.Methods: A cross sectional study was conducted on 200 mothers coming to the rural and urban areas of a district with infants between 0-6 months. The data was collected using a predesigned questionnaire based on KAP about breastfeeding. The data was analyzed using (SPSS) version 21.0.Results: Our study shows that regarding knowledge of breastfeeding, in rural group 42% considered colustrum as first breast milk. In contrast in urban group, 63% were aware that it was first breast milk (p=0.003). Regarding practices, 56% of rural women had started breastfeeding within one hour while only 38% of urban women did the same (p=0.011). Regarding attitude, 77% women of urban area agreed regarding goodness of colostrum for health followed by 48% of rural women (p≤0.001). Most of the women agreed to the belief that a baby should burp after feeding (94% rural and 91% urban).Conclusions: The Gap between KAP regarding breastfeeding exists in rural and urban setups. So, proper stratgies should be planned depending on socio-demographic profile. 


2019 ◽  
Author(s):  
Tadesse Abdisa Abdisa ◽  
Zelalem Desalegn ◽  
Melese Chego Cheme

Abstract Objectives: Knowing determinants of health seeking behaviors of families is significant in assuring access and utilization of health services. Less is known on the seeking behaviors and access of modern health services among populations in rural settings in Ethiopia. The general Objective of the study is to assess health care seeking behavior (Utilization) and associated factors among the community of in Bako Tibe District, Ethiopia. Community based descriptive cross-sectional study design was used on 750 head of the residents of ≥18 years old. Multistage sampling technique was used to get the households and data was collected by interview using structured questionnaire and analyzed using SPSS version 24. Binary and multiple logistic regression analysis were used to identify the factors associated with the health seeking behavior. Results: 495(66%) reported having morbidity and level of health care seeking behavior was 78.6% of which 66% sought care from government facilities. Sex of respondent, residence, family size, educational status, monthly income, disease condition, Perceived severity & access to needed health information were found to be significant associated factors of healthcare seeking behavior of the respondents in multiple logistic regression analysis. Keywords: Health seeking behavior, Access, Bako district, Ethiopia


2020 ◽  
Author(s):  
Elvis Wambiya ◽  
Peter O Otieno ◽  
Martin Kavao Mutua ◽  
Hermann Pythagore Pierre Donfouet ◽  
Shukri F Mohamed

Abstract BackgroundKnowledge of health care utilization is particularly crucial in low-and middle-income countries where inequalities in burden of disease and access to primary health care exist. Inconclusive evidence exists on health-seeking and utilization of health facilities in the informal settlements in Kenya. This study assessed the patterns and predictors of private and public health care utilization in an urban informal settlement in Kenya.MethodsThis cross-sectional study used data from the Lown scholars study conducted between June and July 2018. It was nested within the Nairobi Urban Health and Demographic Surveillance System. Households were selected using simple random sampling and data obtained for all household members who reported having sought care for an illness in the 12 months preceding the study. Data were collected on health-seeking behaviour and explanatory variables (predisposing, enabling, and need) using an adaptation of Andersen’s conceptual framework. Health care utilization patterns by explanatory variables were described using proportions and multinomial logistic regression used to identify the predictors of private or public health care use.ResultsThree hundred and sixty-four members from 300 households sought care for an illness in the 12 months preceding the study. Almost half (47%) of the respondents sought care from private facilities while about 33% and 20% used public and other facilities, respectively. Health care utilization was influenced by enabling and need factors. Health insurance coverage was associated with private health facility use (aOR 3.06; 95% CI 1.48 – 6.31). Satisfaction with the quality of care was associated with lower use of public facilities (aOR 0.31; CI 0.11 – 0.84) while satisfaction with cost of care was associated with higher use of public facilities (aOR 2.09; CI 1.01 – 4.29). Members who reported an acute infection were more likely to use private facilities (aOR 3.07; 95% CI 1.52 – 6.18).ConclusionsHealth care utilization in the urban informal settlements favours private health facility use. As Kenya commits to achieving universal health coverage, interventions to improve health care access in informal and low-resource settlements should be modelled around enabling and need factors, particularly health care financing and quality of health care provision.


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