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Table 1 Children whose caretakers sought early or delayed treatment ( n = 287)

From: Determinants of delay in care seeking among children under five with fever in Dodoma region, central Tanzania: a cross-sectional study

Characteristic

Sought early or delayed medical care1

Early 132 (44.6%)

Delayed 155 (55.4%)

All children (n = 287)

Age (in months) of child:

   

  0-11

30 (10.6)

23 (8.5)

53 (19.0)

  12-23

36 (12.8)

50 (17.7)

86 (30.5)

  24-35

22 (7.0)

32 (11.4)

54 (18.3)

  36-47

26 (8.6)

29 (10.2)

55 (18.8)

  48-59

18 (5.6)

21 (7.7)

39 (13.3)

Sex of child (male)

68 (23.2)

81 (29.2)

149 (52.4)

Relationship of child to head of household (non-biological son/daughter)

7 (2.3)

17 (5.8)

24 (8.1)

Child had convulsion (yes)

6 (2.0)

6 (2.2)

12 (4.1)

Child had diarrhoea (yes)

65 (22.6)

67 (23.9)

132 (46.5)

Child had cough/flu (yes)

96 (33.0)

109 (40.2)

205 (73.3)

Child had vomiting (yes)

47 (15.4)

45 (16.1)

92 (31.4)

Fever perceived as a sign of a disease (yes)

103 (34.2)

111 (39.4)

214 (73.6)

Perceived severity of fever for child:

   

  Mild

57 (19.5)

81 (28.6)

138 (48.0)

  Moderate

58 (19.2)

50 (17.9)

108 (37.0)

  Severe

17 (5.9)

24 (9.0)

41 (14.9)

Both biological parents stay at home (no)

30 (10.2)

51 (17.5)

81 (27.7)

Biological mother stays at home (no)

3 (0.9)

4 (1.5)

7 (2.3)

Number of under-five children in household (2-3)

24 (8.2)

37 (13.1)

61 (21.4)

Caretakers

   

Age (years), mean (SE)

30.0 (0.4)

29.8 (0.5)

29.9 (0.3)

Education:

   

  No education

27 (9.2)

36 (13.7)

63 (22.8)

  Primary

98 (33.2)

110 (38.9)

208 (72.1)

  Secondary and above

7 (2.2)

9 (2.8)

16 (5.0)

Occupation:

   

  Unemployed

16 (4.4)

6 (1.6)

22 (6.0)

  Agricultural activities

90 (31.4)

117 (44.0)

207 (75.4)

  Non-agricultural activities

26 (8.7)

32 (10.0)

58 (18.5)

Years in current place of residence (always)

67 (23.3)

80 (28.8)

147 (52.0)

Marital status (married)

106 (35.4)

109 (39.7)

215 (75.2)

Main source of information in matters of health (health worker)

104 (35.5)

121 (43.3)

225 (78.8)

Head of household

   

Sex (male)

108 (36.2)

116 (42.1)

224 (78.2)

Age (years), mean (SE)

36.5 (2.3)

37.6 (1.6)

37.1 (1.4)

Education:

   

  No education

23 (8.4)

33 (12.2)

56 (20.7)

  Primary

98 (32.7)

114 (40.9)

212 (73.6)

  Secondary and above

11 (3.4)

8 (2.3)

19 (5.7)

Occupation:

   

  Unemployed

4 (1.5)

4 (1.1)

8 (2.6)

  Agricultural activities

98 (35.0)

133 (49.4)

231 (84.4)

  Non-agricultural activities

30 (8.1)

18 (4.9)

48 (13.0)

Household size, mean (SE)

5.1 (0.4)

5.3 (0.2)

5.2 (0.2)

Economic status:

   

  Poorest

28 (10.0)

40 (14.8)

68 (24.8)

  Second

31 (10.9)

49 (17.4)

80 (28.2)

  Middle

25 (9.7)

32 (12.5)

57 (22.1)

  Fourth

30 (9.9)

24 (8.3)

54 (18.2)

  Highest

18 (4.2)

10 (2.4)

28 (6.6)

Place of residence (rural)

98 (34.9)

139 (51.6)

237 (86.5)

Distance to nearest HF (≥5 km)

71 (24.3)

107 (39.6)

178 (63.9)

Distance to nearest market (≥5 km)

81 (28.7)

124 (46.0)

205 (74.7)

Main road passable throughout the year (no)

37 (13.5)

40 (14.6)

77 (28.1)

Perceived quality of main road (poor)

54 (19.4)

61 (22.4)

115 (41.8)

  1. 1Data are presented as frequency (%) or mean (SE) for categorical and continuous variables, respectively.