Details:

Alternative Title:
BMC Public Health
Publisher's site:
http://dx.doi.org/10.1186/1471-2458-13-444
Personal Author:
Mayxay, Mayfong ; Hansana, Visanou ; Sengphilom, Bouachanh ; Oulay, Latsamy ; Thammavongsa, Vatsana ; ... More +
Mayxay, Mayfong ; Hansana, Visanou ; Sengphilom, Bouachanh ; Oulay, Latsamy ; Thammavongsa, Vatsana ; Somphet, Vatsana ; Taykeophithoune, Chansathit ; Nathavong, Soudavanh ; Phanthady, Johnly ; Chareunvong, Kongmany ; Chanthavilay, Phetsavanh ; Sychareun, Vanphanom Less -
Description:
Background

Respiratory illness (RI) remains a public health problem in Laos, but little is known about the overall burden and people’s healthcare-seeking behavior for RI. Understanding the burden of RI and community patterns of healthcare-seeking behavior would provide better guidance for Lao public health program and policy planners to improve RI public health practice, surveillance systems, and prevention strategies.

Methods

A quantitative and qualitative survey was conducted in 14 randomly selected villages of two purposively selected peri-urban and two rural provinces in Laos. A pre-designed and pre-tested questionnaire was used to collect information on RI in household members (defined as new fever with cough and/or sore-throat in the absence of other diagnoses during the preceding 30 days) from all heads of household in each village. Sixteen focus group discussions were conducted to obtain more information to support the quantitative survey.

Results

Among 1,751 households (9,114 people) studied, 3.5% (317/9,114) had experienced RI (fever, cough, and/or sore-throat) in the 30 days before the survey [6.2% in rural and 2.4% in peri-urban areas (p<0.001)]. The percentage of RI among persons aged ≥15 years was 2.7%, 3.7% for those aged 5 – 14 years, and 8.2% for children < 5 years (p<0.001). Of all sick persons, 71% sought treatment [94% in peri-urban and 48% in rural areas (p<0.001)] and 31.5% of them self-medicated [55.5% in peri-urban and 29% in rural areas (p<0.001)]. Sick people in peri-urban areas preferred to chose private clinics and pharmacies as their first treatment option while in rural areas they frequently consulted with village health volunteers and visited health centres as their first choice. The qualitative study suggests that distance, costs of care, and service availability are the most important determinants of seeking healthcare.

Conclusions

The RI burden and healthcare-seeking behavior are different between rural and peri-urban areas of Laos and this is probably due to the differences in environmental and hygienic conditions, health service availability and socio-economic status between the two areas. Therefore strategies for healthcare service improvement may also need to differ between the two areas.


Subject:
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Adolescent
Adult
Child
Cost Of Illness
Female
Healthcare-seeking Behaviour
Humans
Laos
Male
Patient Acceptance Of Health Care
Research Article
Respiratory Illness
Respiratory Tract Diseases
Rural Population
Socioeconomic Factors
Urban Population
Young Adult

Source:
BMC Public Health. 2013; 13:444.
Pubmed ID:
23642240
Pubmed Central ID:
PMC3689642
Document Type:
Journal Article
Funding:
089275/Wellcome Trust/United Kingdom ; 5U10EP424885-05 REVISED/EP/EAPO CDC HHS/United States
089275/Wellcome Trust/United Kingdom ; 5U10EP424885-05 REVISED/EP/EAPO CDC HHS/United States Less -
Collection(s):
CDC Public Access
Main Document Checksum:
[+]
urn:sha256:c60d54b52d33b0f157bd3740990e0d8058da4668925d623186698e8060965144
File Type:

Supporting Files

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