Table 3.
The frequency of discomfort regarding the reason for their clinic visit, as reported by participants in a survey of access barriers to health services in rural facilities in Marsabit County, Kenya (n = 711)*
| Normal group (n = 327) | MAM group (n = 241) | SAM group (n = 143) | P‐value* | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Felt uncomfortable about their purpose at the clinic today (n = 190, 27%) | ||||
| 61 (19%) | 71 (30%) | 58 (41) | <0.001 | |
| Thought women whose children have acute malnutrition would be more uncomfortable coming to the clinic than other women (n = 526, 74%) | ||||
| 237 (73) | 180 (76) | 109 (76) | 0.65 | |
| Reasons they would feel more uncomfortable (n = 526, multiple answers allowed) | ||||
| Mother's ability to care for her child is questioned | 150 (64) | 105 (59) | 73 (66) | 0.40 |
| Household's ability to feed the child is questioned | 139 (60) | 114 (69) | 64 (58) | 0.54 |
| Mother's ability to provide necessities for her child is questioned | 120 (52) | 114 (64) | 63 (57) | 0.04 |
| Child is perceived to have a serious health condition | 69 (30) | 60 (33) | 33 (30) | 0.66 |
| Household is perceived to be poor | 56 (24) | 36 (20) | 28 (25) | 0.52 |
MAM, moderate acute malnutrition; SAM, severe acute malnutrition. *Values are n (%). Significance refers to Fisher's exact tests comparing the distribution of positive responses across study groups.