A national survey of private-sector outpatient care of sick infants and young children in Nepal

Table 3 Profile of medicine shops & private clinics, engaged in treatment of young infants

	Medicine shops (%)				Physician-run clinics (%)
Proximity to hospital with in-patient pediatrics service (in minutes)	< 30 min n = 200	30–60 min n = 100	>60 min n = 100	All n = 400	n = 82
DDA registration	74	36	34	55	N/A
Professional credentials:
Pediatrician					38
Other physician					62
CMA/ HA	66	74	72	69
Pharmacist/ Pharmacy Assistants	10	6	5	8
ANM/ nurse	6	5	7	6
Other paramedical	1	2	6	3
No professional training	17	12	10	14
Sex (% male)	86	94	79	86	98*
Age - mean				38 years	38 years
< 30 years	22	20	30	24	17
30 to 40 years	44	52	43	45	57
> 40 years	34	28	27	31	26
10+ yrs. experience treating sick infants	53	34	43	46	31†
Dual practice in public sector H facility	13	17	19	15	34*
Also does in-patient pediatrics					62
Services available:
11h hours/ day	94	88	97	93	85
7 days/ week	98	96	90	95	83*
Physician on site at least once/ week	9	5	11	9	N/A

Medicine shop data presented in this table are restricted to those to which the full survey instrument (Tool 1) was administered (n = 400); shops that reported only dispensing medicines for young infant illness and not involved in assessment and treatment decisions are not included here
Acronyms: DDA Department of Drug Administration, CMA Certified Medical Assistant, HA Health Assistant, ANM Auxiliary Nurse-Midwife, H facility health facility, N/A not applicable
* p-value on difference between medicine shops and clinics < 0.01
† p-value on difference between medicine shops and clinics < 0.05

ISSN: 1472-6963