Table 3.
Reasons why mothers did not seek care for their child with diarrhea in the SMI, 2011–2013
| Guatemala (N = 244) | Mexico (N = 252) | Nicaragua (N = 98) | Panama (N = 50) | P* | |||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| % | 95% CI | % | 95% CI | % | 95% CI | % | 95% CI | ||
| Treated at home | 65.3 | 57.9–72.6 | 48.2 | 39.6–56.7 | 47.6 | 37.5–57.8 | 43.9 | 22.6–65.1 | 0.184 |
| Not sick enough to need care | 13.4 | 8.5–18.3 | 42.4 | 34.1–50.7 | 21.9 | 12.6–31.3 | 32.9 | 13.6–52.3 | 0.001 |
| Health center has insufficient medications | 11.4 | 6.4–16.5 | 11.5 | 6.4–16.5 | 9.3 | 3.2–15.5 | 5.0 | 0.0–11.1 | 0.675 |
| Health center is too far | 7.8 | 4.0–11.7 | 6.4 | 2.1–10.8 | 2.1 | 0.0–4.9 | 49.0 | 25.6–72.3 | < 0.001 |
| Could not pay for transportation | 0.6 | 0.0–1.5 | 1.5 | 0.0–4.0 | 10.9 | 4.9–16.9 | 29.6 | 12.0–47.2 | 0.001 |
| Too busy | 1.7 | 0.0–3.7 | 0.9 | 0.0–1.9 | 10.4 | 4.4–16.3 | 3.1 | 0.0–8.8 | < 0.001 |
| Care is too expensive | 7.4 | 4.0–10.8 | 3.6 | 0.8–6.4 | 1.0 | 0.0–3.0 | 14.2 | 3.6–24.8 | 0.051 |
| Went to the health center but there were no staff | 0.6 | 0.0–1.6 | 2.9 | 0.0–6.0 | 3.1 | 0.0–6.9 | 7.1 | 1.3–12.8 | 0.567 |
| Previous poor treatment by health center staff | 0.0 | – | 2.4 | 0.0–5.1 | 1.0 | 0.0–2.8 | 4.0 | 0.0–11.4 | 0.569 |
| Health center staff are difficult to deal with | 0.0 | – | 0.6 | 0.0–1.6 | 3.6 | 0.0–8.9 | 2.0 | 0.0–6.0 | 0.243 |
| Could not find transportation | 0.9 | 0.0–2.2 | 1.0 | 0.0–2.5 | 1.6 | 0.0–4.7 | 24.7 | 0.3–49.2 | 0.001 |
| Health center is poorly equipped | 1.2 | 0.0–2.5 | 0.7 | 0.0–1.8 | 2.5 | 0.0–5.9 | 0.0 | – | 0.374 |
| Health center staff are not trusted | 1.6 | 0.0–3.9 | 1.5 | 0.0–3.9 | 1.0 | 0.0–2.8 | 0.0 | – | 0.926 |
| Health center facilities are poor | 0.0 | – | 1.8 | 0.3–3.3 | 0.5 | 0.0–1.5 | 0.0 | – | 0.437 |
| Tried, but was denied attention | 0.0 | – | 0.7 | 0.0–1.7 | 1.0 | 0.0–3.0 | 2.0 | 0.0–6.0 | 0.766 |
| Religious or cultural beliefs | 0.4 | 0.0–1.0 | 1.1 | 0.0–3.4 | 0.0 | – | 0.0 | – | 0.525 |
| Health center staff are ill informed | 0.0 | – | 0.4 | 0.0–1.0 | 1.3 | 0.0–3.7 | 0.0 | – | 0.616 |
| Did not want to go alone | 0.6 | 0.0–1.7 | 0.4 | 0.0–1.1 | 0.0 | – | 0.0 | – | 0.714 |
| Could not get permission to go to the doctor | 0.0 | – | 0.3 | 0.0–0.9 | 0.0 | – | 0.0 | – | 0.836 |
| Did not know where to go | 0.0 | – | 0.2 | 0.0–0.7 | 0.0 | 0.0 | 0.846 | ||
| Other | 9.0 | 4.8–13.3 | 8.1 | 3.8–12.4 | 4.2 | 0.9–7.5 | 0.0 | – | 0.251 |
CI = confidence interval; SMI = Salud Mesoamérica Initiative.
Because of survey weighting, these sample sizes do not equal Table 2's sample size multiplied by the proportion of mothers who did not seek advice or treatment. Data not available for El Salvador and women could provide multiple reasons.
*
Chi-square tests.