Healthcare-seeking Pattern of Rural Mozambican Mothers in the Aftermath of 15 Years Protracted Civil War: A Multistage Cluster Sampling Study

Healthcare-seeking Pattern of Rural Mozambican Mothers in the Aftermath of 15 Years Protracted Civil War: A Multistage Cluster Sampling Study | Research Square window.SnipcartSettings = { analytics: { enabled: false } }; (function() { var accessVector = localStorage.getItem('access_vector') || ''; window.dataLayer = window.dataLayer || []; if (accessVector) { window.dataLayer.push({ user: { profile: { profileInfo: { snid: accessVector } } } }); } })(); (function(w,d,s,l,i){w[l]=w[l]||[];w[l].push({'gtm.start':new Date().getTime(),event:'gtm.js'});var f=d.getElementsByTagName(s)[0],j=d.createElement(s),dl=l!='dataLayer'?'&l='+l:'';j.async=true;j.src='https://www.googletagmanager.com/gtm.js?id='+i+dl;f.parentNode.insertBefore(j,f);})(window,document,'script','dataLayer','GTM-K279D39R'); Browse Preprints In Review Journals COVID-19 Preprints AJE Video Bytes Research Tools Research Promotion AJE Professional Editing AJE Rubriq About Preprint Platform In Review Editorial Policies Our Team Advisory Board Help Center Sign In Submit a Preprint Cite Share Download PDF Research Article Healthcare-seeking Pattern of Rural Mozambican Mothers in the Aftermath of 15 Years Protracted Civil War: A Multistage Cluster Sampling Study jose Gaby Tshikuka, Ngoyi Kashiba Zacharie Bukonda, Paty Patient Pyana, and 4 more This is a preprint; it has not been peer reviewed by a journal. https://doi.org/ 10.21203/rs.3.rs-9182408/v1 This work is licensed under a CC BY 4.0 License Status: Under Revision Version 1 posted 17 You are reading this latest preprint version Abstract Study objectives : Reports on perception and healthcare-seeking pattern of Mozambican mothers in the aftermath of 15 years protracted civil war are missing; which, might over/underrate health programs assessing changes or evaluating success in rural Mozambique. This study aimed to: (i) assess the knowledge and perception of mothers on mother and child illnesses in rural communities of Mozambique in the aftermath of 15 years long civil war, (ii) estimate the prevalence of mother and child illnesses in affected communities, (iii) examine and compare proportions of mother healthcare seeking practices for mother and child illnesses among existing facilities. Methods: Clusters sampling approach was used to select 300 households. Proportions of mothers were estimated by types of assistance received at birth of their youngest child. The prevalence of diarrhea, malaria and ARI were assessed including percentages of mothers who recognized symptoms and causalities of these illnesses. Mothers’ healthcare seeking practices among available sources were examined and, compared between groups/subgroups. Results: While mothers had no problem identifying symptoms of maternal and child illnesses, they all believed that illnesses had natural and/or supernatural causalities. Proportion of mothers who sought healthcare exclusively from traditional healer (curandeiros) exceeded 40% in every illness studied but was relatively higher in illnesses linked to supernatural causalities. Conclusions: These findings suggest while curandeiros were the main healthcare providers in the area, there is potential for effective use of existing healthcare services. Intervention programs aiming at improving the use of healthcare services in cultural communities should address superstitious perceptions of disease causations. Maringwe Mozambique Malaria Diarrhea Acute Respiratory Infection Healthcare-seeking pattern Curandeiros Health-Posts Full Text Additional Declarations No competing interests reported. Cite Share Download PDF Status: Under Revision Version 1 posted Editorial decision: Revision requested 13 Apr, 2026 Reviews received at journal 07 Apr, 2026 Reviews received at journal 06 Apr, 2026 Reviews received at journal 04 Apr, 2026 Reviews received at journal 03 Apr, 2026 Reviews received at journal 02 Apr, 2026 Reviewers agreed at journal 02 Apr, 2026 Reviewers agreed at journal 02 Apr, 2026 Reviewers agreed at journal 02 Apr, 2026 Reviewers agreed at journal 02 Apr, 2026 Reviewers agreed at journal 02 Apr, 2026 Reviewers agreed at journal 02 Apr, 2026 Reviewers invited by journal 02 Apr, 2026 Editor invited by journal 01 Apr, 2026 Editor assigned by journal 24 Mar, 2026 Submission checks completed at journal 24 Mar, 2026 First submitted to journal 20 Mar, 2026 You are reading this latest preprint version Research Square lets you share your work early, gain feedback from the community, and start making changes to your manuscript prior to peer review in a journal. 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Also discoverable on Platform About Our Team In Review Editorial Policies Advisory Board Help Center Resources Author Services Accessibility API Access RSS feed Manage Cookie Preferences © Research Square 2026 | ISSN 2693-5015 (online) Privacy Policy Terms of Service Do Not Sell My Personal Information {"props":{"pageProps":{"initialData":{"identity":"rs-9182408","acceptedTermsAndConditions":true,"allowDirectSubmit":false,"archivedVersions":[],"articleType":"Research Article","associatedPublications":[],"authors":[{"id":618854011,"identity":"1971b3cd-1406-4297-9c4e-9bbd112d7040","order_by":0,"name":"jose Gaby 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