Utilization of Routine Health Information System and Associated Factors Among Health Professionals in Public Health Facilities in Dire Dawa, Eastern Ethiopia: a Cross-sectional Study

Background: Using reliable evidence from routine health information over time is an important aid to improve the health outcome, tackling disparities, enhancing efficiency, and encouraging innovation. In Ethiopia, the utilization of routine health data for improving the performance and quality of care was not well-studied in primary and secondary health facilities. This study assessed the level of routine health information utilization and associated factors among health professionals in public health facilities of Dire Dawa, eastern Ethiopia. Method: An institution-based cross-sectional study was conducted among 378 randomly selected health professionals from June 10 to July 20, 2020. A self-administered pretested structured questionnaire was used to collect data from participants. Data were entered using EpiData version 3.1 and analyzed using Stata version 16.0. Descriptive statistics were used to characterize the participants and binary logistic regression analysis was conducted to identify factors associated with the utilization of routine health information. Adjusted Odds Ratio (AOR) with 95% confidence interval was used to report association and significance was declared at P- value<0.05. Results: : Good utilization of routine health information among health professionals was 57.7% (95% CI: 52.6%, 62.6%). Good organizational support (AOR=3.91, 95% CI: 2.01, 7.61), the low perceived complexity of the reporting formats (AOR=2.20, 95% CI: 1.23, 3.97), good self-efficacy (AOR=2.52, 95% CI: 1.25, 5.10), and good decision making autonomy (AOR=3.97, 95% CI: 2.12, 7.43) were important factors associated with good utilization of routine health information. Conclusion: Good utilization of routine health information among health professionals was low. Lack of self-confidence and empowerment of health professionals, the complexity of routine health information system format, and poor organizational support were significantly reducing the level of routine health information utilization. Therefore, improving the self-efficacy and decision-making capacity of health professionals through comprehensive training, empowerment and organizational support would be essential to increase the level of routine health information utilization.