Factors associated with delay in seeking care for children under five years diagnosed with malaria attending Tororo General Hospital

Abstract

Background: In children, ability to diagnose malaria early and initiating treatment on time have been registered as a successful pathway towards controlling the malaria infection. This pathway breaks the chain of disease progression thus reducing chances of severe disease, death and transmission. The World Health Organization established that early diagnosis and prompt treatment should occur within 24hrs of the onset of malaria symptoms. Therefore, it’s importantthat caregivers ensure children access early diagnosis and prompt, effective treatment within 24hrs of the onset of malaria symptoms. General objective: To determine the prevalence of delay to get care and factors associated with delay to seek care among children under 5 years diagnosed with malaria disease attending Tororo general hospital. Methods: This was a cross-sectional study at the pediatric outpatient and inpatient departments, Tororo general hospital. It enrolled 380 children under five years presenting with malaria symptoms and a positive blood slide or RDT.A questionnaire was administered to caregivers of the enrolled children to determine the factors associated with delay to seek care. Descriptive statistics were used to summarize the child, caregiver and health facility characteristics. The proportion of children that delay to get care was determined. A logistic regression model was used to evaluate factors that are associated with delay to seek care among caregivers. Results : Out of 380 caretakers sampled, 87.1% delayed to seek care when their children fell sick. About 72.9% of the caretakers treat their children from home with majority (50%) of them sourcing the medicines they use from health facilities, 22.1% from drug shops and 0.8% from drug shops. No factor was significantly associated with delay in seeking care among the caretakers sampled. Conclusions: The findings reflect high prevalence of delay in seeking care among the caretakers.