Table 4 Treatment seeking behaviour for febrile illnesses in relation to health center and past behaviour (n = 281)
Characteristics | Total (n = 281) | Allopathic health services (n = 200) | Non-allopathic health services (n = 81) | p-value |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Â | Number (%) | Number (%) | Number (%) | Â |
Have you ever become sick or had fever in the past 2 months? | ||||
 Yes | 201 (71.5) | 143 (71.5) | 58 (71.6) | 0.986 |
 No | 80 (28.5) | 57 (28.5) | 23 (28.4) |  |
If Yes, did you seek treatment? (n = 201) | ||||
 Yes | 185 (92) | 134 (93.7) | 51 (87.9) | 0.14 |
 No | 16 (8) | 9 (6.3) | 7 (12.1) |  |
If Yes, where did you first seek treatment? (n = 185) | ||||
Self-treatment | ||||
 No | 184 (99.5) | 134 (100) | 50 (98) | 0.276 |
 Yes | 1 (0.5) | 0 | 1 (2) |  |
Sorcerer | ||||
 No | 137 (74.1) | 123 (91.8) | 14 (27.5) | < 0.001 |
 Yes | 48 (25.9) | 11 (8.2) | 37 (72.5) |  |
Health center | ||||
 No | 36 (19.5) | 14 (10.4) | 22 (43.1) | < 0.001 |
 Yes | 149 (80.5) | 120 (89.6) | 29 (56.9) |  |
Other | ||||
 No | 167 (90.3) | 121 (90.3) | 46 (90.2) | 0.588 |
 Yes | 18 (9.7) | 13 (9.7) | 5 (9.8) |  |
Which do you prefer more between? | ||||
 Lao Traditional Medicine | 4 (1.4) | 3 (1.5) | 1 (1.2) | 0.023 |
 Allopathic Health Services | 274 (97.5) | 197 (98.5) | 77 (95.1) |  |
 NA | 3 (1.1) | 0 | 3 (3.7) |  |
How far is the nearest health center from your home in km? | ||||
  ≤ 3.5 km | 94 (33.5) | 84 (42) | 10 (12.3) | < 0.001 |
 3.6 to 12 km | 99 (35.2) | 67 (33.5) | 32 (39.5) |  |
  ≥ 12.1 km | 88 (31.3) | 49 (24.5) | 39 (48.1) |  |
How far is the nearest health center from your home in min? | ||||
  ≤ 30 min | 49 (63.6) | 22 (52.4) | 27 (77.1) | 0.065 |
  ≥ 31 min | 26 (33.8) | 19 (45.2) | 7 (20) |  |
 NA | 2 (2.6) | 1 (2.4) | 1 (2.9) |  |
How do you get to the health center/hospital? | ||||
 By walk | 138 (49.1) | 97 (48.5) | 41 (50.6) | 0.002 |
 By some means | 136 (48.4) | 102 (51) | 34 (42) |  |
 NA | 7 (2.5) | 1 (0.5) | 6 (7.4) |  |
Is the road to nearest health center in good condition? | ||||
 Yes | 214 (76.2) | 157 (78.5) | 57 (70.4) | 0.002 |
 No | 62 (22.1) | 43 (21.5) | 19 (23.5) |  |
 Don’t know | 5 (1.8) | 0 | 5 (6.2) |  |
Are you satisfied with your nearest health center? | ||||
 Yes | 261 (92.9) | 192 (96) | 69 (85.2) | < 0.001 |
 No | 8 (2.8) | 6 (3) | 2 (2.5) |  |
 Don’t know | 12 (4.3) | 2 (1) | 10 (12.3) |  |
Can you get medicine on the counter? | ||||
 Yes | 85 (30.2) | 70 (35) | 15 (18.5) | < 0.001 |
 No | 188 (66.9) | 129 (64.5) | 59 (72.8) |  |
 Don’t know | 8 (2.8) | 1 (0.5) | 7 (8.6) |  |
Do you prefer on the counter medicine? | ||||
 Yes | 23 (8.2) | 12 (6) | 11 (13.6) | 0.001 |
 No | 246 (87.5) | 184 (92) | 62 (76.5) |  |
 Don’t know | 12 (4.3) | 4 (2) | 8 (9.9) |  |
If Yes, Why? | ||||
Because it is easy | ||||
 No | 5 (21.7) | 5 (41.7) | 0 | 0.024 |
 Yes | 18 (78.3) | 7 (58.3) | 11 (100) |  |
I don’t like to go to health center | ||||
 No | 22 (95.7) | 11 (91.7) | 11 (100) | 0.522 |
 Yes | 1 (4.3) | 1 (8.3) | 0 |  |
It is faster | ||||
 No | 15 (65.2) | 9 (75) | 6 (54.5) | 0.278 |
 Yes | 8 (34.8) | 3 (25) | 5 (45.5) |  |
It is cheaper | ||||
 No | 22 (95.7) | 12 (100) | 10 (90.9) | 0.478 |
 Yes | 1 (4.3) | 0 | 1 (9.1) |  |
Because doctors do not prescribe | ||||
 No | 21 (91.3) | 10 (83.3) | 11 (100) | 0.261 |
 Yes | 2 (8.7) | 2 (16.7) | 0 |  |
Other | ||||
 No | 22 (95.7) | 11 (91.7) | 11 (100) | 0.522 |
 Yes | 1 (4.3) | 1 (8.3) | 0 |  |
NA | ||||
 No | 21 (91.3) | 10 (83.3) | 11 (100) | 0.261 |
 Yes | 2 (8.7) | 2 (16.7) | 0 |  |