Determinants of malaria treatment seeking time of children (0-5 years) in Uganda: case study of Apac district.

Abstract

Malaria remains a major cause of morbidity and mortality among children under five years old in Apac district. However, little is known about the community management of malaria and treatment-seeking patterns. I aimed to assess determinants of malaria treatment-seeking behaviour of children below five years by their caretakers in Apac district (age of the caregiver, age of the child, gender of the caregiver, marital status, education level, employment status, household wealth index, weekly expenditure, reason given for delayed treatment and caregivers’ choice of the hospital) as well as to identify significant determinants associated with malaria treatment seeking behaviours of children under five by their parents/ caregivers Structured questionnaires were administered to caregivers of children under the age of five years in 240 households using a simple random sampling technique and data was collected in Apac district and STATA version 16.0 was used for analysis. Survival analysis was used to investigate the socio-economic, demographic and behavioural factors that affect time to seek malaria treatment for children by their caretakers/parents. All caregivers/parents sought treatment for their children and out of the 240 caregivers, (70%) were female. It was revealed from the study that education level, employment status, marital status, household wealth index, choice of the hospital and reason for delayed treatment was significantly associated with malaria treatment seeking time among under five children (p-value<0.05). The study therefore concluded that to reduce delayed treatment in Apac district, timely drug supply to the main hospital and to households by the Village Health Teams to effectively ensure early treatment seeking behaviours for malaria and sensitization of caregivers on early malaria treatment attendance of their ill children.