Table 2.
Treatment and parental care-seeking behavior for diarrheal children under 5 years of age in the SMI, 2011–2013
| Guatemala (N = 603) | Mexico (N = 545) | Nicaragua (N = 191) | Panama (N = 99) | El Salvador (N = 497) | P* | ||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| % | 95% CI | % | 95% CI | % | 95% CI | % | 95% CI | % | 95% CI | ||
| Given ORS | 34.6 | 29.9–39.6 | 32.2 | 27.5–37.4 | 41.6 | 34.5–49.1 | 24.4 | 15.8–35.8 | 46.5 | 41.5–51.6 | 0.017 |
| Given zinc | 1.2 | 0.4–3.6 | 2.1 | 0.9–4.7 | 3.9 | 2.0–7.3 | 0.0 | 5.1 | 3.4–7.6 | 0.213 | |
| How much was the child given to eat | 0.002 | ||||||||||
| Nothing | 14.6 | 11.4–18.5 | 5.6 | 3.2–9.6 | 5.0 | 2.6–9.3 | 3.4 | 1.2–8.9 | 5.1 | 3.1–8.4 | |
| Much less than usual | 19.3 | 15.9–23.4 | 16.6 | 13.1–20.7 | 14.6 | 9.1–22.7 | 12.2 | 7.7–18.8 | 22.9 | 18.2–28.4 | |
| A little less than usual | 43.6 | 39.5–47.8 | 46.1 | 41.1–51.2 | 47.5 | 40.3–54.8 | 34.4 | 26.4–43.4 | 37.3 | 32.1–42.8 | |
| About the same | 20.8 | 17.2–24.9 | 27.8 | 23.1–33.1 | 32.6 | 26.8–38.9 | 46.4 | 38.1–55.0 | 31.7 | 26.2–37.8 | |
| More than usual | 1.6 | 0.9–3.0 | 3.9 | 2.5–6.1 | 0.4 | 0.0–2.6 | 3.7 | 1.2–10.9 | 2.9 | 1.5–5.5 | |
| How much was the child given to drink | < 0.001 | ||||||||||
| Nothing | 3.9 | 2.4–6.1 | 0.8 | 0.2–2.4 | 1.7 | 0.5–5.5 | 1.0 | 0.1–6.8 | 1.4 | 0.6–3.3 | |
| Much less than usual | 13.2 | 10.1–17.1 | 17.6 | 13.7–22.3 | 16.5 | 11.4–23.2 | 12.8 | 8.1–19.7 | 13.7 | 10.1–18.4 | |
| A little less than usual | 39.0 | 34.0–44.2 | 34.9 | 30.1–40.1 | 46.6 | 39.8–53.5 | 29.6 | 21.0–39.9 | 16.7 | 12.6–21.7 | |
| About the same | 24.9 | 20.4–30.0 | 29.7 | 24.5–35.5 | 31.8 | 26.0–38.2 | 48.1 | 39.5–56.8 | 38.5 | 33.0–44.4 | |
| More than usual | 19.0 | 15.4–23.4 | 17.0 | 13.2–21.5 | 3.4 | 1.7–6.8 | 8.5 | 3.6–18.7 | 29.6 | 24.4–35.4 | |
| Given antimotility medication | 19.7 | 16.2–23.7 | 20.7 | 16.3–25.9 | 13.1 | 8.6–19.3 | 7.0 | 3.3–14.4 | 2.0 | 1.0–3.9 | 0.002 |
| Appropriate antibiotic use | 32.7 | 22.5–44.9 | 33.2 | 20.4–49.1 | 31.9 | 12.1–61.5 | 20.4 | 5.5–53.1 | 37.2 | 24.8–51.6 | 0.928 |
| Inappropriate antibiotic use | 32.7 | 28.2–37.6 | 40.4 | 34.1–46.9 | 31.1 | 23.8–39.4 | 22.9 | 14.9–33.4 | 34.8 | 29.2–41.0 | 0.056 |
| Sought advice or treatment | 61.4 | 56.8–65.9 | 52.2 | 46.6–57.8 | 48.0 | 39.3–56.8 | 49.1 | 36.0–62.3 | 50.4 | 44.8–55.9 | 0.165 |
| Where sought advice or treatment† | |||||||||||
| Public hospital | 1.0 | 0.4–2.8 | 5.7 | 2.8–11.1 | 24.3 | 13.2–40.5 | 14.2 | 3.3–44.5 | 5.2 | 2.8–9.7 | |
| Public clinic | 66.4 | 59.4–72.8 | 47.5 | 40.7–54.3 | 46.1 | 34.2–58.5 | 76.6 | 53.1–90.4 | 68.6 | 61.4–75.0 | |
| Private facility/provider | 2.9 | 1.4–6.1 | 13.8 | 9.2–20.0 | 8.4 | 5.1–13.6 | 0.0 | – | 13.3 | 9.3–18.8 | |
| Pharmacy | 17.3 | 12.5–23.4 | 27.3 | 21.8–33.7 | 17.8 | 10.5–28.6 | 0.0 | – | 4.1 | 2.1–7.9 | |
| Community health worker | 3.6 | 1.7–7.4 | 0.7 | 0.1–3.0 | 0.9 | 0.1–6.1 | 0.0 | – | 1.7 | 0.5–5.2 | |
| Other | 8.7 | 5.5–13.5 | 5.1 | 3.0–8.6 | 2.4 | 0.6–9.0 | 9.2 | 3.9–20.4 | 7.1 | 4.2–11.7 | |
CI = confidence interval; ORS = oral rehydration solution; SMI = Salud Mesoamérica Initiative.
Because of survey weighting, these sample sizes do not equal Table 1's sample size multiplied by the prevalence of diarrhea.
*
Chi-square tests.
†
Only asked of those who sought advice or treatment.