Discussion Paper No. 50 of 2005 on Child Healthcare Seeking Behaviour in Kenya

Abstract

Although child healthcare receives enormous attention from governments, households and international organizations in developing countries, the economics of child healthcare in Kenya remain unexplored, denying this field the tools of analysis that could lead to optimal decision making. Good health in children requires significant amounts of resources. Healthcare providers will need to provide quality service while household will need to access health facilities to achieve maximum health benefits. This study identifies and measures determinants of child health seeking behaviour in Kenya, using a multinomial logit model. The study analyzed four choices: public (government) hospital, mission (private not for profit) hospital, private (private for profit) hospital and other treatment facilities not in the three presented cadres. Out of a 100 children who seek advice for fever, 44 visit public health facilities , 10 visit mission hospitals or clinics, and 25 visit private health facilities. The remaining visit other facilities for healthcare, including herbalists, shops and community health workers. The study findings reveal that distance to the health facility, sex of child, total number of siblings, mother's level of education, and mother's age determine the choice of facility for seeking advice for fever. As observed in most studies, the mother's level of education is strongly linked to child survival...