title: Appropriate health-seeking behavior and associated factors among people who had cough for at least two weeks in northwest Ethiopia: a population-based cross-sectional study.
abstract: BACKGROUND
  Tuberculosis remains the major debilitating public health problem in Ethiopia. However, studies to understand the patients' perspectives on the illness and their health-seeking behavior have been few in the country. In this study, we seek to investigate the magnitude of appropriate health-seeking behavior and factors associated with tuberculosis among people who had cough for at least two weeks.
  
  
  METHODS
  A population-based cross-sectional study was conducted from July to October 2012 in Dabat, northwest Ethiopia. All people aged ≥ 15 years and had cough for at least two weeks were included in the study. Data collected by using a pre-tested and structured questionnaire were entered and cleaned using the Epi Info version 2002 statistical software. The statistical Package for the Social Sciences Version 16.0 was also employed for descriptive and logistics regression analysis.
  
  
  RESULTS
  Out of the 25,701 people aged ≥ 15 years surveyed, the proportion of people who had cough for at least two weeks was reported to be 843(3.3%). Appropriate health-seeking behavior towards tuberculosis was reported by 674(80.0%) of them. Factors significantly associated with health-seeking behavior for tuberculosis were being female [AOR: 0.56, 95%CI: (0.39-0.79)], high monthly real per capita income [AOR: 1.66, 95%CI: (1.15-2.38)], large family size [AOR: 0.50, 95%CI: (0.35-0.72)], and use of traditional-healing practices [AOR: 13.27, 95%CI: (9.10-25.41)].
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  This study showed that the magnitude of appropriate health-seeking behavior during the event of chronic cough was high. However, this doesn't mean that there will be no need for further strengthening of the intervention activities as significant proportions of the study communities still demonstrate inappropriate health-seeking behavior. So tuberculosis control programs need to emphasize factors, such as sex, family size, socioeconomic inequalities, and traditional-healing practices in resource-poor settings.
authors.forename: Meseret
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Senbeto
authors.affiliation: Institute of Public Health, the University of Gondar, Gondar, Ethiopia. sbsbtadesse90@gmail.com.
authors.forename: Sebsibe
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Tadesse
authors.forename: Takele
authors.initials: T
authors.lastname: Tadesse
authors.forename: Tesfahun
authors.initials: T
authors.lastname: Melesse
mesh_terms: D000293:Adolescent; D000328:Adult; D002908:Chronic Disease; D003371:Cough / Q000628:therapy*; D003430:Cross-Sectional Studies; D005002:Ethiopia; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D010342:Patient Acceptance of Health Care / Q000706:statistics & numerical data*; D013997:Time Factors; D014376:Tuberculosis / Q000517:prevention & control*; D055815:Young Adult