Health care seeking behaviour among the rural adult women of Srinagar Upazilla of Munshigonj, Bangladesh

Abstract

There has been an increasing availability and accessibility of modern health services in rural Bangladesh over the past decades. However, previous studies on the health care seeking behaviour of the rural people of Bangladesh were based on limited number of factors (Variables) focusing mainly on the rural adult people both male and female. This cross sectional descriptive study was conducted to determine the health care seeking behavior among the rural adult women. Two hundred and seventy adult women from several villages of Srinagar Upazila under the district of Munshigonj were interviewed for the study. Data were collected by face to face interview form the respondents through a semi-structured questionnaire by purposive sampling method.  From this study it was found that the mean age of the respondents was 26.94 years with standard deviation +11.53 years. Majority of them were married (55.55%). Most of them were Muslims (93.33%). Among 270 respondents 30.00% were of H.S.C level and 15.55% were illiterate. Among the husbands of the married women proportion of illiteracy was 35.85%. About 22.22% respondents had family income below 5000 tk. per month and 67.78% of the respondents had nuclear family. The most common disease they suffered from was fever (16.22%). The other mentionable diseases were Joint pain 9.46%, Cough and Cold 8.11%, Peptic ulcer 6.76% and Hypertension 4.05%. Most of the respondents (26.66%) went to Thana Health Complex for seeking for health care. Another 16.67% women went to Private MBBS Doctor. Only 1.11% went to Community Clinic. Forty percent (40%) of the diseased women went to Local health center because of reliability and 21.11% went there as treatment cost is low. Almost all (98.89%) of the respondents replied that they should go to a qualified (MBBS) doctor. 54.44% rural adult women of Srinagar were satisfied about the treatment facilities in Local Govt. Hospital/THC. Majority (43.33%) of the women were referred to specialized hospital in Dhaka after treatment failure in Primary site. During illness majority of the respondents (34.44%) took decision themselves for seeking health care. 20% women took decision combined with their husband. During the illness of their children 28.23% women went to Local Govt. Hospital/THC and 22.35% went to MBBS Doctor Privately. Majority of the respondents (30%) thought that they could get modern treatment from THC/Govt. Hospital and 25.55% thought that it could be found from Private MBBS Doctor. Among the 270 respondents 54.44% were willing to participate in local health awareness program. In my study I have found association between the economic status of the respondents and their satisfaction about the treatment facilities in Local Govt. Hospital. There was a significant relationship between the educational level of the respondents and their willingness to participate in local health awareness program. The respondents who were of HSC level of education were mostly (81.48%) willing to participate in such health program. In my study the findings could not be compared to similar type of findings of other studies, because there were limited references. The association between economic status of the respondents and satisfaction about the treatment facilities can be evaluated from further in-depth study.