BACKGROUND Assessment of delays in seeking care and diagnosis of tuberculosis is essential to evaluate effectiveness of tuberculosis control programs, and identify programmatic impediments. Thus, this review of studies aimed to examine the extent of patient, health system, and total delays in diagnosis of pulmonary tuberculosis in low- and middle- income countries. METHODS It was done followi...

BACKGROUND Diarrhea remains to be a main cause of childhood mortality. Diarrhea case management indicators reflect the effectiveness of child survival interventions. We aimed to assess time trends and country-wise changes in diarrhea case management indicators among under-5 children in low-and-middle-income countries. METHODS We analyzed aggregate data from Demographic and Health Surveys and ...

BACKGROUND Prompt treatment following Transient Ischemic Attack (TIA) can reduce the risk of subsequent stroke and disability. However, many patients delay in making contact with medical services. This study aimed to explore TIA patients' accounts of delay between symptom onset and contacting medical services including how decisions to contact services were made and the factors discussed in rel...

BACKGROUND Reducing delay to accessing care is necessary to reduce the Tuberculosis (TB) burden in high incidence countries such as India. This study aimed to identify factors associated with delays in seeking care for TB in Southern India. METHODS We analyzed data from newly diagnosed, smear-positive, culture-confirmed, pulmonary TB patients in the Regional Prospective Observational Research...

To investigate U.S. women's intended care seeking for symptoms associated with ovarian cancer, data from the 2012 HealthStyles Fall survey of U.S. adults were examined. Analyses were limited to women with no history of gynecologic cancer (N = 1726). Logistic regression models for intended care seeking within 2 weeks of symptom onset were developed. A minority of women recognized that unexplaine...

BACKGROUND Many countries striving to achieve universal health insurance coverage have done so by means of multiple health insurance funds covering different population groups. However, existence of multiple health insurance funds may also cause variation in access to health care, due to the differential revenue raising capacities and benefit packages offered by the various funds resulting in i...

Introduction: Pain is the main reason for patients with osteoarthritis (OA) to visit health clinics. Health seeking behaviors indicate unmet patient needs and lack of understanding of OA pain patterns. This study aimed to describe the experiences of Iranian patients with OA and explore their health seeking behaviors and perceptions on pain management related to osteoarthritis. Methods: Using a ...

BACKGROUND Delays in seeking quality post abortion care services remain a major contributor to high levels of mortality and morbidity among women who experience unsafe abortion. However, little is known about the causes of and factors associated with delays in seeking care among women who suffer complications of unsafe abortion. This study looks at factors that are associated with delays in see...

Background. Most of the childhood illnesses can be proven with effective interventions. However, countless children die needlessly in developing countries due to the failure of their guardians to seek care timely. The aim of this study was to assess health care seeking behavior of caretakers of children under the age of five years for treatment of common childhood illnesses. Methods. Further an...

BACKGROUND AND OBJECTIVE Delay in seeking medical care is one criterion used to identify victims of abuse. However, typical symptoms of accidental fractures in young children and the time between injury and the seeking of medical care have not been reported. We describe patient and injury characteristics that influence the time from injury to medical care. METHODS Parental interviews were con...