Factors influencing health service utilization among mothers for under-five children: A cross-sectional study in Khulna district of Bangladesh

Although Bangladesh has made significant progress in reducing child mortality, proper utilization of health services for under-five children among mothers remains one of the major challenges. Hence, this study was designed to investigate the factors influencing health service utilization among mothers for under-five children in the Khulna district of Bangladesh. Administering a semi-structured interview schedule, data were collected from 364 randomly selected mothers from the study area between June and August 2021. At first, Pearson's Chi-square test was conducted to measure the association between outcome and predictor variables. Multivariable logistic regression model was used to identify the factors associated with utilization of health services. Overall, about 59 percent of the mother received health services from unqualified doctors during their children's illness and the rest of them (41.5%) seek care from the qualified doctors. Results of regression analysis revealed that long duration of illness (AOR = 2.338; CI: 1.175-4.649; p= 0.015), the severity of illness (AOR = 6.402; CI: 3.275-12.513; p<0.001), and higher cost of treatment (AOR = 7.371; CI: 3.297-16.480; p<0.001) were the significant predictors of utilization of health services from the qualified doctors for under-five children. Thus, the study suggests that to reduce under-five child mortality by ensuring proper utilization of health services, it is necessary to raise awareness among mothers, improve transport facilities, establish need-based health care centers, and lower treatment costs.