Table 5.
Socio-economic differences in malaria incidence, diagnosis and treatment sources and reasons for non use of health centres
| Variable | N | Socio-economic status Quartile | |||||
| Poorest N (%) | Very poor N (%) | Poor N (%) | Least Poor N (%) | Poor-rich ratio Q1/Q4 | P – value | ||
| Incidence of malaria | 1254 | 303 (24.1) | 300 (24) | 325 (25.9) | 326 (26) | 0.93 | 0.6799 |
| Sources of diagnosis | |||||||
| Traditional healer | 18 | 6 (33.3) | 3 (16.7) | 5 (27.8) | 4 (22.2) | 1.5 | 0.2565 |
| Family member | 58 | 33 (56.9) | 9 (15.5) | 8 (13.8) | 8 (13.8) | 4.12 | 0.0000* |
| Community health worker | 73 | 15 (20.6) | 17 (23.3) | 22 (30.1) | 19 (26) | 0.79 | 0.2565 |
| Laboratory test | 112 | 24 (21.4) | 18 (16.1) | 33 (29.5) | 37 (33) | 0.65 | 0.0099* |
| Self | 993 | 246 (24.8) | 270 (27.2) | 242 (24.4) | 235 (23.6) | 1.1 | 1.0000 |
| Sources of treatment | |||||||
| Traditional healer | 147 | 43(29.2) | 51(34.7) | 32(21.8) | 21(14.3) | 2.04 | 0.0027* |
| Patent medicine dealer | 451 | 132(29.3) | 116(25.7) | 106(23.5) | 97(21.5) | 1.36 | 0.1623 |
| Community health worker | 24 | 12(50) | 7(29.2) | 3(12.5) | 2(8.3) | 6.0 | 0.0000* |
| BI health centre | 221 | 42(19) | 48(21.7) | 64(29) | 67(30.3) | 0.63 | 0.0391* |
| General hospital | 339 | 68(20.1) | 82(24.2) | 94(27.7) | 95(28) | 0.72 | 0.1487 |
| Private clinic | 29 | 2(6.9) | 6(20.7) | 9(31.0) | 12(41.4) | 0.17 | 0.0000* |
| Home | 43 | 12(27.9) | 12(27.9) | 8(18.6) | 11(25.6) | 1.09 | 0.4406 |
| Reasons for not using the BI health centre | |||||||
| Lack of drugs | 337 | 60 (17.8) | 74 (21.9) | 102 (30.3) | 101 (30) | 0.59 | 0.0232* |
| Too far | 214 | 53 (24.7) | 50 (23.4) | 56 (26.2) | 55 (25.7) | 0.96 | 0.7971 |
| Poor staff attitude | 166 | 33 (19.9) | 39 (23.5) | 38 (22.9) | 56 (33.7) | 0.59 | 0.0303* |
| Unaffordable cost | 113 | 33 (29.2) | 26 (23) | 25 (22.1) | 29 (25.7) | 1.14 | 0.6060 |
| Long waiting time | 133 | 25 (18.8) | 46 (34.6) | 26 (19.5) | 36 (27.1) | 0.69 | 0.679 |
| Lack of doctor | 470 | 99 (21.1) | 121 (25.7) | 124 (26.4) | 126 (26.8) | 0.78 | 0.353 |
Note: * = p < 0.05. = statistically significant