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Gender Difference in Community’s Health Care Seeking Behaviour towards Male and Female Newborns in Today’s Scenario- A Cross-sectional Study |
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Avyact Agrawal, S Priyadharshini, Preeti Singh 1. Associate Professor, Department of Paediatrics, Netaji Subash Chandra Bose Medical College and Hospital, Jabalpur, Madhya Pradesh, India. 2. Assistant Professor, Department of Paediatrics, Srinivasan Medical College and Hospital, Dhanalakshmi Srinivasan University, Tiruchirappalli, Tamil Nadu, India. 3. Senior Resident, Department of Paediatrics, Institute of Medical Sciences, Banaras Hindu University, Varanasi, Uttar Pradesh, India. |
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Correspondence Address : Dr. S Priyadharshini, Flat D1, Mark Diamond Residency, VOC Road, Cantonment, Tiruchirappalli-620001, Tamil Nadu, India. E-mail: priyastayclear@gmail.com |
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ABSTRACT | |||||||
: Introduction: The sex ratio is a crucial social indicator to assess the level of equality between men and women. In several aspects, the gender difference between men and women is the major expression of social and cultural trends of the society. Aim: To analyse sex ratio at birth and the gender difference in health seeking behaviour among newborns and the natural survival advantage of female newborns by studying the admission, discharges, mortality, follow-up and Leave Against Medical Advice (LAMA) in Special Newborn Care Unit. Materials and Methods: This cross-sectional study was conducted in Netaji Subash Chandra Bose Medical College and Hospital, Madhya Pradesh and Lady Elgin Hospital, Madhya Pradesh from July 2017 to June 2019. The total number of newborns included in the study was 37,256. The difference in male and female newborns in terms of birth, LAMA, morbidity, mortality and follow-up were studied. The monthly statistical data were entered in an excel sheet. The data were analysed using SPSS version 22.0 for Windows. The mean values of the monthly percentage were compared gender-wise using the t-test. Results: Out 20108 male newborns and 17,148 female newborns advised for follow-up care, 1897 females (mean-14.64, SD-11.47) and 3029 males (mean-16.94, SD-12.47) came for follow-up care. The gender difference was statistically significant (p ≤0.001). Females (mean outborn unit-3.07, inborn unit-1.05) took LAMA more than males (mean outborn-2, inborn-0.84) which was statistically significant (outborn: p≤0.001, inborn: p=0.0254). This imples less health seeking behaviour towards females. Mortality (p-value: outborn-0.0041, inborn-0.0105) and morbidity (p≤0.001) were lesser in females compared to males which was statistically significant. These factors imply natural survival advantage in females. Conclusion: The present study concludes that the health seeking behaviour was less towards female newborns despite their natural survival advantage which plays an important role in the declining sex ratio. | |||||||
Keywords : Gender bias, Gender differences, Health care utilisation, Sex bias, Sex differences, Sexual discrimination | |||||||
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DOI and Others :
DOI: 10.7860/IJNMR/2024/65690.2416
Date of Submission: Jul 07, 2023 Date of Peer Review: Jul 18, 2023 Date of Acceptance: Nov 07, 2023 Date of Publishing: Jun 30, 2024 AUTHOR DECLARATION: • Financial or Other Competing Interests: None • Was Ethics Committee Approval obtained for this study? Yes • Was informed consent obtained from the subjects involved in the study? No • For any images presented appropriate consent has been obtained from the subjects. Yes PLAGIARISM CHECKING METH |
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Original article / research
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