Home Management of Febrile Children Under-Five Years in Kahama District, North-Western Tanzania

Abstract

An assessment of the prevalence and the factors associated with home treatment of children less than five years with febrile illnesses was carried out at Mmuhungura Ward in Kahama District, Shinyanga, Tanzania. Out of the 400 under-fives who participated in the study, 79% had fallen sick during the previous six months. Majority of the children had diarrhoea (64%) and 34% had cough. Thirty nine percent of the parents provided home treatment to their under-five children. The self-administered drugs were antimalarials 45%, antipyretics 34%, antidiarrhoeals 26%, cough syrups 23% and analgesics 17%. The drugs used were obtained from drug stores (68%) while left-overs from previous supplies accounted for 15%. Univariate analysis revealed that diarrhoeal diseases, shortness of breath, being a single parent and frequency of illnesses in the children were significantly associated with home treatment. Multivariate analysis showed that walking time to the health facilities of more than one hour, frequency of morbidity, being a single parent and unemployment of the parent were significantly associated with home treatment. Illiteracy of the parents had low association with home treatment. Home treatment of children less than five years was prevalent in the studied area.

Key words: Home treatment, fever, under-five children, Kahama, Tanzania