Care-seeking behaviours of mothers and associated factors for possible serious bacterial infection in young infants during COVID-19 pandemic in Ethiopia: mixed-methods formative research.
BMJ Open
; 13(7): e073118, 2023 07 05.
Article
en En
| MEDLINE
| ID: mdl-37407046
ABSTRACT
OBJECTIVES:
Implementation research was employed to examine rates and contextual factors associated with mothers' care-seeking for their sick neonates and identify challenges for community-based possible serious bacterial infection (PSBI) services access and implementation during the COVID-19 pandemic.DESIGN:
We conducted formative research involving household survey and programmatic qualitative study.SETTING:
This formative study was conducted in Dembecha and Lume woredas of Amhara and Oromia regions.PARTICIPANTS:
Data were captured from 4262 mothers aged 15-49 years who gave live birth 2-14 months before data collection, and interviews with 18 programme managers and 16 service providers in April to May 2021.ANALYSIS:
A multilevel regression model was employed to identify predictors of maternal care-seeking for PSBI and thematic qualitative analysis to inform strategy development to strengthen PSBI implementation.RESULTS:
Overall, 12% (95% CI 11.0% to 12.9%) and 8% (95% CI 7.9% to 9.6%) of mothers reported any newborn illness and severe neonatal infection (PSBI), respectively. More than half of mothers sought formal medical care, 56% (95% CI 50.7% to 60.8%) for PSBI. Women who received postnatal care within 6 weeks (adjusted OR (AOR) 2.08; 95% CI 1.12 to 3.87) and complete antenatal care (ie, weight measured, blood pressure taken, urine and blood tested) (AOR 2.04; 95% CI 1.12 to 3.75) had higher odds of care-seeking for PSBI. Conversely, fear of COVID-19 (AOR 0.27; 95% CI 0.15 to 0.47) and residing more than 2 hours of walking distance from the health centre (AOR 0.39; 95% CI 0.16 to 0.93) were negatively associated with care-seeking for severe newborn infection. Multiple pre-existing health system bottlenecks were identified from interviews as barriers to PSBI service delivery and exacerbated by the COVID-19 pandemic.CONCLUSION:
We found gaps in and factors associated with care-seeking behaviour of mothers for their sick young infants including fear of COVID-19 and pre-existing health system-level barriers. The findings of the study were used to design and implement strategies to mitigate COVID-19 impacts on management of PSBI.Palabras clave
Texto completo:
1
Colección:
01-internacional
Base de datos:
MEDLINE
Asunto principal:
Infecciones Bacterianas
/
Enfermedades Transmisibles
/
COVID-19
Tipo de estudio:
Prognostic_studies
/
Qualitative_research
/
Risk_factors_studies
Límite:
Female
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Humans
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Infant
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Newborn
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Pregnancy
País/Región como asunto:
Africa
Idioma:
En
Revista:
BMJ Open
Año:
2023
Tipo del documento:
Article
País de afiliación:
Etiopia