Barriers to the uptake of eye health services of the children in rural Bangladesh: A community-based cross-sectional survey

Abstract

Globally, ocular morbidity and disability among children are major public health concerns. This study was designed to explore the health-seeking behaviours of parents in Bangladesh whose children have ocular problems. A cross-sectional mixed method was followed for this study. The method was designed to measure the eye health care-seeking practices of caregivers/parents with children with ocular morbidity in three unions (the lowest administrative geographical area comprising 30,000–50,000 population) of the Raiganj Upazila under the Sirajganj District of Bangladesh. The study period was from January to April 2017. Face-to-face interviews using a semi-structured quantitative questionnaire with the caregivers and KI were conducted among the health service providers during the study period. This was the first community-based study conducted in Bangladesh to find out caregivers’ health-seeking behaviour with identified ocular morbidity. Among 198 confirmed cases of childhood ocular problems, only 87 (43.9%) parents sought health care for their children’s ocular morbidities. Better health-seeking behavior was found among the wealthier families. Proportions were 55.3% and 36% among wealthy and low-income families, respectively. Affluent families sought care from qualified service providers. Educated household heads chose qualified service providers for their children at a higher rate than illiterate household heads. Lack of knowledge, lack of awareness and financial constraints are significant barriers to seeking proper health care. More than half of the caregivers did not seek any eye care services for their children. Socio-demographic factors, and financial constraints play an essential role in the health-seeking behaviour of the parents.