Journal of Information Technology & Software Engineering
Open Access

Abstract

Routine Health Information Use for Decision making and Associated Factors by Public Health Care Providers in North West Ethiopia

Alemayehu Tilahun*, Zewdie Aderaw Alemu and Tewodros Eshete

Background: Using reliable information from routine health information systems is vital for planning, monitoring, and evaluation thereby improving health outcomes. However, in developing countries including Ethiopia, the level of use of routine health information for decision making is low and the insufficient quality of the data produced limits their usefulness.

Objective: To assess routine health information use for decision-making and associated factors among health care providers of Awi Zone, 2020.

Methods: Institution-based cross-sectional study design was conducted at public health institutions of Awi Zone, Northwest Ethiopia. A total of 562 study participants were included through the stratified sampling technique. Data were analyzed by binary logistic regressions using a statistical package for social science v25.

Result: A total of 555 respondents participated with a response rate of 98.8%. The level of use of data for decisionmaking was 55.93% at 95% CI (53.71-58.15). The health center healthcare providers (AOR=5.61:2.23-14.08), not having skills in data analysis (AOR=0.37:0.20-0.71), the inability to calculate findings (AOR=0.47: 0.26-0.85), timeliness of data (AOR=4.11:1.70-9.98), the credibility of data (AOR=9.33:4.23-20.55), reviewing performance (AOR=3.49:1.46-8.38), no access to health information (AOR=0.54;0.31-0.93) were found significantly associated with routine health information use for decision making.

Conclusion and Recommendation: Nearly half of health care providers were unable to use routine information for decision-making. Type of health institution, skills in data analysis, ability to calculate findings, timeliness, credibility, frequency of reviwiening indicators, and access to health information were factors related to routine health information use. Addressing these issues is highly recommended for improving routine health information use.

Published Date: 2021-09-02; Received Date: 2021-08-03