Effect of Community Integrated Management of Childhood Illness on Mothers' Healthcare-Seeking Behaviour and Home Management of Childhood Illness in Ile Ife; South-West Nigeria: A Household Survey

ABSTRACT

Background. Care-seeking interventions; as part of community integrated management of childhood illness (CIMCI); have the potential to substantially reduce child mortality in countries where common childhood illnesses are a major problem. Prompt and appropriate care-seeking practices are important to avoid many deaths attributed to delays in or not seeking care; particularly in developing countries such as Nigeria.Objective. To assess the effect of community-level intervention on mothers' care-seeking behaviour for common childhood illnesses and related influencing factors. Methods. The study had a comparative cross-sectional design and was conducted in two local government areas (LGAs) of Osun State; South-West Nigeria. A total of 722 mothers of index children aged 5 years were selected through a multistage cluster sampling technique. Data were collected and analysed using SPSS version 16.0. Descriptive; bivariate and multivariate analyses were performed. Results. Care-seeking for children who reported illness was higher in the CIMCI-implementing LGA (90.2%) compared with 74.8% in the non-implementing LGA (p