279 Health-care seeking behavior of under-five non-fatal child drownings in rural Bangladesh

<h3>Background</h3> Drowning is an important but neglected global public health issue that affects children and adults alike. Non-fatal drowning is given less attention than other types of injury morbidity. Globally, non-fatal drowning is higher than fatal drowning. In 2016, the rate of non-fatal drowning was 819.5/100,000 among 1–4 years old children and fatal drowning was 71.7/100,000 population. <h3>Objective</h3> The objective of this study was to explore medical care-seeking behavior of non-fatal drowning cases among under 5 years’ children in rural Bangladesh. <h3>Methods</h3> A cross-sectional study was conducted from seven sub-districts of Bangladesh under the CreCHeS program. 93 hospitalized under-5 children who experienced non-fatal drowning between December 2021 and November 2023 were included in this study. All the cases were retrospectively reviewed by seven data collectors of selected 7 sub-districts. A pretested, structured questionnaire was used to collect information on hospitalization, referral system and their socio-economic status. <h3>Results</h3> Preliminary results revealed that no one received CPR from anyone after being rescued. Maximum (64%, n=60) non-fatal cases started their treatment at the event areas with traditional practices like massaging with oil, moving on the head, giving excessive pressure on the abdomens, swinging the body, etc. Rest of the cases (34%, n=31) went to the local pharmacy or village doctors and then moved to the Thana or district-level government hospitals as well as medical college hospitals for better service without taking any traditional means. But only 17% (n=16) did not receive any traditional measures at the incidence site; they traveled directly to the government hospital. To get quality service, they had to travel 4 to 80 kilometers by motorcycle, auto-rickshaw, CNG, bus, private car, and ambulance. They had to travel those distances in those vehicles for a minimum of 20 minutes and a maximum of 3 hours. <h3>Conclusions</h3> Most of the non-fatal drowning victims commenced their medical care from the unqualified healthcare practitioners. The community’s understanding of first aid following rescue is rather poor in rural Bangladesh. Community people had a strong belief in traditional health-seeking behaviors that are dangerous to non-fatal drowned.