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Muluye Molla Simieneh,1 Mezgebu Yitayal,2 Abebaw Addis Gelagay3 1Department of Public Health, College of Health Sciences, Debre Markos University, Debre Markos, Ethiopia; 2Department of Health Systems and Policy, Institute of Public Health, College of Medicine and Health Sciences, University of Gondar, Gondar, Ethiopia; 3Department of Reproductive Health, Institute of Public Health, College of Medicine and Health Sciences, University of Gondar, Gondar, EthiopiaCorrespondence: Mezgebu YitayalDepartment of Health Systems and Policy, Institute of Public Health, College of Medicine and Health Sciences, University of Gondar, P. O. Box 196, Gondar, EthiopiaTel +251 947 057683Email mezgebuy@gmail.comBackground: Community-based health insurance (CBHI) schemes have been implemented in developing countries to facilitate modern medical care access. However, studies conducted on the effect of CBHI on healthcare-seeking behavior (HSB) have been limited and revealed inconsistent results. Therefore, this study aimed to assess the effect of CBHI on mothers’ HSB for common under-five childhood illnesses.Methods: A community-based comparative cross-sectional study was conducted among 410 rural mothers (205 insured and 205 non-insured), and a multistage random sampling technique was used to select the study participants. Binary logistic regression and propensity score matching were used to identify factors associated with the mothers’ HSB, and estimate the effect of CBHI on mothers’ HSB, respectively.Results: The overall mother’s HSB for childhood illnesses was 48.8% (200/410). From those mothers who visited healthcare, 92.0% were married, 86.0% were unable to read and write, 94.5% were farmers, and 54.5% were from low wealth status, 58.50% had a family size of ≤ 5, 54.0% had children less than 24 months of age. Besides, 63.0% were members of CBHI, 37.0% perceived their child’s illness as severe, 78.0% made a shared decision to visit a health facility, and 67.5% lived within less than five Kms from the nearby health facilities. Being a member of CBHI, the child’s age, decision to visit a health facility, and perceived disease severity were predictors of HSB. The CBHI had a significant effect on the HSB for childhood illnesses with ATT of 28.7% (t = 3.959).Conclusion: The overall mothers’ HSB for common childhood illnesses was low though the CBHI has a significant effect. CBHI should be strengthened to improve the mothers’ HSB. It is also crucial to strengthen awareness creation regarding joint decision-making and educate mothers to visit the health facilities regardless of children’s age and disease severity.Keywords: effect, community-based health insurance, mothers, health-seeking behavior, childhood illnesses

Ataklti Gessesse,1 Mezgebu Yitayal,2 Mihiretu Kebede,3,4 Getasew Amare2 1Tigray Public Health Institute, Mekelle, Ethiopia; 2Department of Health Systems and Policy, Institute of Public Health, College of Medicine and Health Sciences, University of Gondar, Gondar, Ethiopia; 3Department of Health Informatics, Institute of Public Health, College of Medicine and Health Sciences, University of Gondar, Gondar, Ethiopia; 4Leibniz Institute for Prevention Research and Epidemiology, Bremen, GermanyCorrespondence: Getasew Amare P.O. Box – 196, Gondar, EthiopiaTel +251910151944Email getasewa23@gmail.comBackground: Health service utilization among out-of-pocket payers and fee-wavier users and factors associated with it in Saesie Tsaeda-Emba District, Tigray Region, Northern Ethiopia.Methods: A comparative community-based cross-sectional study was conducted in Northern Ethiopia. Households with at least one person who experienced illness during the last six months were included in the study. Data were collected using a structured and interviewer-administered questionnaire. Bivariable and multivariable logistic regression analyses were used to identify factors associated with the HSU.Results: In this study, 652 individuals (489 OOP payers and 163 fee waiver users) participated with overall response rate of 98%. The overall HSU among the participants was 44.3% (41.9 for OOP users and 51.5% for fee waiver users). The study revealed that educational status (AOR = 0.35; 95% CI: 0.21, 0.59), family size (AOR = 0.60; 95% CI: 0.37, 0.97) and income level (AOR = 2.09; 95% CI: 1.12, 3.90, and AOR = 4.12; 95% CI: 2.41, 7.53) were factors significantly associated with the HSU among OOP payers. The study also revealed that educational status (AOR = 0.65; 95% CI: 0.21, 0.59), family size (AOR = 0.4; 95% CI: 0.37, 0.97), income level (AOR = 1.12; 95% CI: 1.21, 4.87), and payment mechanism (AOR = 2.21; 95% CI = 1.34, 4.67 were significantly associated with the HSU among all study participants.Conclusion: This study shows that the level of the HSU is low. Educational status, family size, economic status, and payment mechanism were significantly associated with the HSU. Therefore, improving the community’s educational level, promoting family planning, devising income-generating strategies, and strengthening the fee waiver mechanism may enhance the HSU.Keywords: out-of-pocket payment, fee-waiver, health service utilization, Northern Ethiopia

Simegn Molla,1 Mezgebu Yitayal,2 Getasew Amare2 1Department of Health Systems, School of Public Health, College of Health Sciences, Mekelle University, Mekelle, Ethiopia; 2Department of Health Systems and Policy, Institute of Public Health, College of Medicine and Health Sciences, University of Gondar, Gondar, EthiopiaCorrespondence: Getasew Amare Email getasewa23@gmail.comBackground: Knowing how heart failure affects patients’ quality of life and its associated factors are crucial for a better patient-centred approach and management. Therefore, this study aims to assess health-related quality of life and its associated factors among adult heart failure patients in southern Ethiopia hospitals.Methods: The facility-based cross-sectional study design was conducted in Wolaita zone governmental hospitals from March to April 2018. The population was all adult heart failure patients in the chronic illness follow-up clinic and inpatient department. All adult heart failure patients on follow-up clinic and inpatient departments who have at least a 6-month follow-up were included in the study. In contrast, patients who had chronic comorbidities were excluded from the study. Minnesota Living with Heart Failure Questionnaire (MLHFQ) tool was used to measure the outcome variable health-related quality of life (HRQoL). Interviews and client medical record reviews also collected socio-demographic, clinical and behavioural characteristics of participants. The data were analyzed using STATA version 14, and multiple linear regression analysis with P-value < 0.05 was used to measure the degree of association between HRQoL and independent variables.Results: A total of 372 patients participated in the study. The HRQoL score for the physical, emotional, and total were 22.2, 7.7, and 46.37, respectively. HRQoL was significantly associated with gender, age, family size, occupation, residency, and recent admission within the past six months, New York Heart Association (NYHA) functional class, department of treatment, salt intake, and health perception.Conclusion: Generally, the HRQoL for patients with heart failure was found to be low. Besides the variables age and gender of participants, family size, occupation, residency, admission history, salt intake, and NYHA class were significant factors for the HRQoL of patients with heart failure.Keywords: health-related quality of life, heart failure, Wolaita zone, Minnesota Living with Heart Failure Questionnaire

Tsegaw Amare, Mezgebu Yitayal, Getasew Amare Department of Health Systems and Policy, Institute of Public Health, College of Medicine and Health Sciences, University of Gondar, Gondar, EthiopiaCorrespondence: Getasew AmareDepartment of Health Systems and Policy, Institute of Public Health, College of Medicine and Health Sciences, University of Gondar, PO Box – 196, Gondar, EthiopiaTel +251910151944Email getasewa23@gmail.comIntroduction: Ethiopian health expenditure as a share of total government expenditure increased from 7.6% in 2013/14 to 8.1% in 2016/17. But it remained low even for the low-income country average expected share of 8.7%. It signifies the efficient use of scarce resources in the health sector is still critical to achieving sustainable development goals. But little evidence is available about public hospitals’ technical efficiency in providing maternal health services. Therefore, the aim of this study was to assess the technical efficiency of maternal health services provision of public hospitals in Northwest Ethiopia.Methods: Facility-based cross-sectional study was conducted among twelve randomly selected public hospitals. Input data (salary expenditure, non-salary expenditure, and the number of beds) and maternal health services output data (antenatal care, skilled delivery, and postnatal care) for a 2011 Ethiopian fiscal year (July 2018 to June 2019) were collected and entered into Epi-Data 3.1. We used both primary and secondary data collection procedures to determine independent variables and the dependent variable, respectively. We also used a two-stage input-oriented data envelopment analysis with variable returns to scale assumption.Results: The study showed that hospitals included in this study wasted US$ 6833.50 for salary and US$ 3886.8 for non-salary expenditures. The study also revealed that the mean pure technical efficiency of public hospitals for maternal health service provision was 0.92± 0.142, and their scale efficiency was 0.795± 0.24. The hospital manager’s experience year, the educational level of the manager, and the hospital service year associated positively with the technical efficiency. However, the catchment population and distance of another health facility associated negatively with technical efficiency.Conclusion: The public hospitals’ pure technical efficiency in the provision of maternal health services in Northwest Ethiopia was high. More than half of the public hospitals were technically efficient. The wasted amount of expenditures could be used for satisfying the unmet health services need of the population. Therefore, it is better to monitor the health facilities for the wise use of the existing resources for their best performance.Keywords: technical efficiency, maternal health service, public hospitals, data envelopment analysis, tobit model, Northwest Ethiopia