Table 3.
Number of traditional treatment-seeking paths: single (N = 800) vs. multiple (N = 125) according to household socio-demographic characteristics, pre-hospitalisation delay, malarial fatality and the main syndromes associated with severe childhood malaria
| Parameters | Number of itineraries | P-values† | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Single | Multiple | ||
| N (%) | N (%) | ||
| Socioeconomic level | 0.035 | ||
| Low | 405 (50.6) | 73 (58.4) | |
| Middle | 188 (23.5) | 33 (26.4) | |
| High | 207 (25.9) | 19 (15.2) | |
| Maternal education level | 0.447 | ||
| Not schooled | 343 (42.8) | 50 (40.0) | |
| Elementary | 327 (40.9) | 49 (39.2) | |
| High school and higher education | 130 (16.3) | 26 (20.8) | |
| Paternal education level | — | ||
| Not schooled | 20 (2.5) | 6 (4.8) | |
| Elementary | 200 (25.0) | 29 (23.2) | |
| High school and higher education | 580 (72.5) | 90 (72.0) | |
| Residential environment | 0.004 | ||
| Peri-urban area | 596 (74.5) | 108 (86.4) | |
| Urban area | 204 (25.5) | 17 (13.6) | |
| Sex of the head of household | 0.976 | ||
| Male | 743 (92.9) | 116 (92.8) | |
| Female | 57 (7.1) | 9 (7.2) | |
| Religious beliefs | 0.546 | ||
| Catholics | 420 (52.5) | 62 (49.6) | |
| Awakening churches | 380 (47.5) | 63 (50.4) | |
| Clinical picture | |||
| Neurological (yes/no) | 66 (8.3) | 7 (5.6) | 0.307 |
| Severe anaemia (yes/no) | 101 (12.6) | 22 (17.6) | 0.128 |
| Respiratory distress (yes/no) | 188 (23.5) | 18 (14.4) | 0.028 |
| Pre-hospitalisation delay (days) | |||
| Me (P25-P75) | 5.0 (3–7) | 5.0 (3–8) | 0.067 |
| Malarial fatality | |||
| Crude OR (95% IC) | 1.6(0.7–3.6) | 1 | 0.225 |
| Adjusted OR (95% IC) | 1.7(0.8–3.9) | 1 | 0.166 |
†: Mann-Whitney test or Chi-squared test.