Sociocultural factors causing delay in hospitalization of children in Nepal

Abstract

The present study conducted at Kanti Children's Hospital, Kathmandu revealed that 48 percent of parents of sick children admitted to hospital preferred to consult Traditional Faith Healers (TFM) or shamans initially. This was basically responsible for delays in the hospitalization of children.
A further analysis of this data indicated that TFHs were unable to cure diseases like meningitis, diarrhoea, septicaemia, pneumonia, heart diseases, malnutrition, leukaemia.

This study is both descriptive as well as exploratory in nature. A sample size of 300 parents (about 12% of total patients admitted in the medical wards of Kanti Children's Hospital from 1992-1993) were selected to participate in the study, and out of 300 parents, 25 parents were selected purposively from three districts (Kathmandu, Bhaktapur and Lalitpur) for the follow-up study. Five faith healers and ten doctors of Kanti Children's Hospital were also selected purposively for interview to record their views on causes of delays. This study showed that multiple factors played important roles for the delay of hospitalization of children such as technological factors, social factors and kinship, beliefs, economic factor, education and cure-seeking behaviour of people. The socio-cultural factors like literacy, ethnicity/caste, family structure, decision making process, and cultural and belief systems of people played a major role for the delay of hospitalization of children in Nepal.