Abstract:
Background: Participation of male in child health care is crucial for the reduction of child mortality. Male may be influential in making health care decisions that may affect access to health care services. In spite of this neonatal and child mortality remains a public health burden in the developing countries, including Ethiopia. Past research has found low rates and little is known about male involvement in the care of under two year’s child. This paper sought to explore the community perspectives towards participation of male in child care.
Objectives: To assess male involvement in child care and associated factors among fathers having children less than two years of age in Toke Kutaye District, West Shoa zone, Oromia, Ethiopia, 2024.
Methodology: A community based cross sectional study design was conducted from January 28/2024 to February 16/2024. A simple random sampling technique was applied to select study participants. A total of 597 respondents participated in the study. Data were entered into Epi-data version 3.1 and exported to SPSS version 20 for analysis. Descriptive statistics like frequency, percentage, mean and standard deviation were computed and the results were presented using texts, figures and tables. Bi-variable and Multivariable logistic regression was used for analysis. Adjusted odds ratio with a 95% CI and a p-value of less than 0.05 were used to determine the level of significance.
Results: The prevalence of male involvement in under two years child care was 36.7% (95%CI: 32.8, 40.7). Factors that were significantly associated with good male involvement in child care include Secondary Educational status [AOR = 5.24, 95% CI: 2.64, 10.38], Male sex of the child [AOR = 1.695, 95% CI: 1.094, 2.62], first birth order of the child [AOR= 5.66, 95% CI: 2.79, 11.45] and Family size less than five [AOR= 4.82, 95% CI: 2.58, 9.016].
Conclusion: Male involvement in child care was poor in Toke Kutaye District. Secondary educational status, male sex of the child, first birth order of the child and family size below five were significantly associated with male involvement in child care. Health information dissemination on male involvement in child care should be strengthened.
