Health service utilisation and attitude of healthcare providers towards women suffering from diabetes mellitus in Kiambu County, Kenya
Abstract
Author(s): L W Mwaura, S Wandibba, C O Olungah

A feld study was undertaken in rural Kenya with two public health facilities as the research sites. The purpose of the study was to explore utilisation of formal health services and the attitude of health care providers towards women sufering from type 2 diabetes mellitus (T2DM). The study elements comprised a sample of 200 women. A structured questionnaire was administered; key informant interviews and focus group discussions were held to evaluate health service use and the attitude of health providers. The age of the respondents ranged from 18 to 85 years. The variety of biomedical services provided showed that 99% of the respondents had blood sucrose measurement done routinely; 96% had their blood pressure (BP) measurements taken; and almost a similar number (96%) had their weight measured during clinic attendance. Over three-quarters (79%) of the respondents stated that getting drug prescriptions was a service ofered at the Diabetes Clinic; 50% had their height measurements taken routinely; and 3.5% had eye examination done. A small proportion (2.5%) of the respondents cited laboratory investigations as another service ofered. In the course of health service utilisation, nearly three-quarters (72%) of respondents perceived the health providers’ attitude to be fair; 26% viewed the health providers as having a good attitude, but only 0.5% rated the health providers’ attitude as excellent. Dissatisfaction with health services was also reported in this study. Negative attitude of health care providers was mentioned by 12% of respondents as one of the reasons for their discontent with the available health services. We conclude that staf attitudes and clinic facilities ofered may afect health-seeking behaviour and choice of health care facility

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