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Table 5 Individual and household level characteristics of respondents who sought care for their perceived health needs in the formal sector (n = 3085) and the association (expressed in odds ratios) between these characteristics and seeking care at a private facility

From: Determinants of health seeking behaviour in South Sudan: a cross-sectional household survey

 

Type of facility

  

Characteristics

Public1 (n = 2224)

Private1 (n = 861)

Total1 (n = 3085)

cOR2 (95% CI)

aOR3 (95% CI)

Individual level

Sex (%)

     

 Female

1311 (73.3)

478 (26.7)

1789 (100.0)

1

1

 Male

913 (70.4)

383 (29.6)

1296 (100.0)

1.15 (0.95–1.40)

1.12 (0.87–1.46)

Age group4 (%)

     

 < 5

455 (81.0)

107 (19.0)

562 (100.0)

1

1

 5–9

360 (72.7)

135 (27.3)

495 (100.0)

1.59 (0.93–2.73)

1.62 (0.76–3.44)

 10–14

211 (68.7)

96 (31.3)

307 (100.0)

1.93 (1.22–3.04)

1.76 (0.99–3.13)

 15–19

237 (72.7)

89 (27.3)

326 (100.0)

1.59 (1.04–2.47)

1.69 (1.01–2.85)

 20–29

350 (70.4)

147 (29.6)

497 (100.0)

1.78 (1.15–2.77)

1.51 (0.98–2.33)

 30–39

258 (66.7)

129 (33.3)

387 (100.0)

2.12 (1.23–3.65)

2.07 (1.02–4.23)

 40–49

140 (69.7)

61 (30.3)

201 (100.0)

1.84 (0.99–3.43)

1.7 (0.91–3.16)

 ≥ 50

200 (67.6)

96 (32.4)

296 (100.0)

2.03 (1.36–3.04)

1.89 (1.19–3.01)

Reason for needing care4,5 (%)

     

 Malaria

1289 (58.1)

507 (59.0)

   

 Fever

759 (34.2)

186 (21.7)

   

 Typhoid

425 (19.2)

224 (26.1)

   

 Diarrhoea

450 (20.3)

148 (17.3)

   

 Acute respiratory infections

326 (14.7)

125 (14.5)

   

 Maternal health

70 (3.2)

32 (3.7)

   

 Child health (< 5 years)

20 (4.1)

0 (0.0)

   

 Other

1090 (49.1)

419 (48.8)

   

Medication (%)

     

 Not obtained

181 (84.2)

34 (15.8)

215 (100.0)

1

1

 Obtained and paid for

1493 (65.7)

779 (34.3)

2272 (100.0)

2.81 (1.81–4.36)

3.03 (1.59–5.81)

 Obtained and not paid for

547 (92.4)

45 (7.6)

592 (100.0)

0.44 (0.24–0.81)

0.54 (0.23–1.27)

 Other

4 (57.1)

3 (42.9)

7 (100.0)

NA6

NA6

Action prior to seeking care (%)

     

 No

1800 (73.4)

651 (26.6)

2451 (100.0)

1

1

 Yes

424 (66.9)

210 (33.1)

634 (100.0)

1.37 (0.90–2.09)

0.85 (0.52–1.38)

Delay seeking care4 (%)

     

 Same day

1142 (71.6)

454 (28.4)

1596 (100.0)

1

1

 < 2 days

776 (72.6)

293 (27.4)

1069 (100.0)

0.95 (0.70–1.28)

1.47 (0.91–2.39)

 2–7 days

217 (72.6)

82 (27.4))

299 (100.0)

0.95 (0.62–1.45)

1.19 (0.75–1.9)

 1–4 weeks

24 (61.5)

15 (38.5)

39 (100.0)

1.61 (0.89–2.92)

1.48 (0.55–3.94)

 > 4 weeks

48 (77.4)

14 (22.6)

62 (100.0)

0.71 (0.40–1.25)

0.89 (0.35–2.29)

Type of service needed4,5 (%)

     

 Outpatient

1584 (75.0)

527 (25.0)

2111 (100.0)

  

 Family planning

10 (83.3)

2 (16.7)

12 (100.0)

  

 Antenatal care

38 (88.3)

5 (11.6)

43 (100.0)

  

 Maternal/ child care

100 (75.2)

33 (24.8)

133 (100.0)

  

 HIV/ TB service

125 (88.0)

17 (12.0)

142 (100.0)

  

 Laboratory

290 (57.3)

216 (42.7)

506 (100.0)

  

 Other/ don’t know/ refused

to answer -

33 (73.3)

12 (26.7)

45 (100.0)

  

Used provider before (%)

     

 No

77 (51.0)

74 (49.0)

151 (100.0)

1

1

 Yes

2136 (73.2)

784 (26.8)

2920 (100.0)

0.38 (0.26–0.56)

0.52 (0.348–0.78)

Other/ don’t know

13 (86.7)

2 (13.3)

15 (100.0)

NA6

NA6

Travel time visited facility4 (%)

     

 < 0.5 h

786 (63.9)

445 (36.1)

1231 (100.0)

1

1

 0.5–1 h

691 (76.6)

211 (23.4)

902 (100.0)

0.54 (0.33–0.89)

0.50 (0.29–0.87)

 1–2 h

411 (77.8)

117 (22.2)

528 (100.0)

0.50 (0.27–0.95)

0.49 (0.24–1.02)

 2 h - half a day

252 (89.0)

31 (11.0)

283 (100.0)

0.21 (0.11–0.41)

0.23 (0.11–0.49)

 > half a day

38 (88.4)

5 (11.6)

43 (100.0)

0.26 (0.15–0.44)

0.19 (0.07–0.50)

 Don’t know

26 (61.9)

16 (38.1)

42 (100.0)

NA6

NA6

Safe while travelling4 (%)

     

 Yes

2093 (72.9)

779 (27.1)

2872 (100.0)

1

1

 No

107 (70.4)

45 (29.6)

152 (100.0)

0.88 (0.55–1.41)

1.44 (0.64–3.22)

 Don’t know

5 (83.3)

1 (16.7)

6 (100.0)

NA6

NA6

Household level

State (%)

     

 Central Equatoria

233 (42.1)

320 (57.9)

553 (100.0)

1

1

 Western Equatoria

1525 (78.6)

414 (21.4)

1939 (100.0)

0.20 (0.12–0.33)

0.24 (0.13–0.46)

 Warrap

466 (78.6)

127 (21.4)

593 (100.0)

0.20 (0.13–0.31)

1.01 (0.28–3.68)

Median household size (IQR)

7 (5–10)

7 (5–10)

NA

0.98 (0.96-1.00)

0.97 (0.92–1.02)

Residence (%)

     

 Urban

859 (59.8)

578 (40.2)

1437 (100.0)

1

1

 Rural

1366 (82.8)

283 (17.2)

1649 (100.0)

0.31 (0.19–0.49)

0.40 (0.23–0.70)

Sex HoH (%)

     

 Female

930 (75.1)

309 (24.9)

1239 (100.0)

1

1

 Male

1227 (71.1)

499 (28.9)

1727 (100.0)

1.22 (0.88–1.71)

0.97 (0.63–1.52)

 Missing

67 (56.1)

52 (43.9)

119 (100.0)

NA6

NA6

Religion (%)

     

 Christian

2043 (72.3)

784 (27.7)

2827 (100.0)

1

1

 Muslim

27 (62.8)

16 (37.2)

43 (100.0)

1.55 (0.43–5.64)

0.56 (0.18–1.71)

 None

149 (71.6)

59 (28.4)

208 (100.0)

1.03 (0.68–1.57)

1.51 (0.69–3.30)

 Other/ Don’t know

5 (71.4)

2 (28.6)

7 (100.0)

NA6

NA6

Education HoH (%)

     

 None

1046 (78.0)

295 (22.0)

1341 (100.0)

1

1

 Primary or intermediate

568 (73.1)

209 (26.9)

777 (100.0)

1.31 (0.87–1.96)

1.38 (0.74–2.58)

 Secondary or above

527 (63.7)

301 (36.3)

828 (100.0)

2.02 (1.12–3.65)

1.42 (0.65–3.12)

 Don’t know

16 (80.9)

4 (19.1)

20 (100.0)

NA6

NA6

 Missing

67 (56.1)

52 (43.9)

119 (100.0)

NA6

NA6

Wealth quintiles (%)

     

 Poorest

610 (79.6)

156 (20.4)

766 (100.0)

1

1

 Lower

631 (80.0)

158 (20.0)

789 (100.0)

0.98 (0.50–1.90)

1.03 (0.57–1.88)

 Middle

519 (75.5)

168 (24.4)

687 (100.0)

1.26 (0.40–3.94)

1.27 (0.39–4.11)

 Higher

335 (67.5)

161 (32.5)

496 (100.0)

1.87 (0.92–3.80)

1.54 (0.68–3.49)

 Highest

128 (37.0)

218 (63.0)

346 (100.0)

6.63 (3.59–12.27)

1.86 (0.83–4.15)

Median distance hospital (km) (IQR)

6.2 (2.5–26.8)

2.8 (2.1–6.2)

5.0 (2.3–19.8)

0.98 (0.96–0.99)

0.98 (0.95–1.01)

Median distance public health centre/ unit (km) (IQR)

1.9 (1.2–4.3)

1.6 (0.9–2.7)

1.8 (1.1–3.9)

0.92 (0.85–0.99)

1.19 (1.09–1.31)

Aware BHWs

     

 Yes

1016 (71.2)

411 (28.8)

1427 (100.0)

1

1

 No

1206 (72.9)

449 (27.1)

1655 (100.0)

1.07 (0.81–1.47)

1.18 (0.72–1.93)

 Refused to answer

3 (75.0)

1 (25.0)

4 (100.0)

NA6

NA6

  1. Odds ratios in bold are those that are statistically significant
  2. BHWs: boma health workers, HoH: head of household, IQR: interquartile range, NA: not applicable, either because a variable or category was included in the statistical model, or because it was not possible to calculate the row total from a multiple response categorical variable
  3. 1: Because weighted numbers are reported, which are rounded, the number of respondents per variable may show a minor deviation from the denominator of the column
  4. 2: Crude odds ratio, resulting from univariable logistic regression
  5. 3: Adjusted odds ratio, resulting of multivariable logistic regression in which all variables in the table of which a crude odds ratio was calculated were included
  6. 4: Of the following variables, individuals were excluded from the descriptive statistics and regressions because of missing values: age group (n = 17), reason for needing care (n = 8), delay seeking care (n = 20), type of service needed (n = 92), travel time to visited facility (n = 60) and safety while travelling (n = 55)
  7. 5: The reason for seeking care and type of service needed are multiple response categorical variables. In this table, the number and percentage of people who indicated the category are shown. No inferential statistics were performed of these variables and therefore odds ratios are not presented
  8. 6: For the variables medication, used provider before, travel time visited facility, safety while travelling, religion, education HoH, and aware BHWs, the categories other/ don’t know / refused to answer were not included in the statistical models because of low numbers and because studying these association would not be meaningful
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