Objective

To examine the independent contribution of individual, community and state-level factors to health care service utilization for children with acute childhood illnesses in Nigeria.

Materials and methods

The study was based on secondary analyses of cross-sectional population-based data from the 2013 Nigeria Demographic and Health Survey (DHS). Multilevel logistic regression models were applied to the data on 6,427 under-five children who used or did not use health care service when they were sick (level 1), nested within 896 communities (level 2) from 37 states (level 3).

Results

About one-quarter of the mothers were between 15 and 24 years old and almost half of them did not have formal education (47%). While only 30% of the children utilized health service when they were sick, close to 67% lived in the rural area. In the fully adjusted model, mothers with higher education attainment (Adjusted odds ratio [aOR] = 1.63; 95% credible interval [CrI] = 1.31–2.03), from rich households (aOR = 1.76; 95% CrI = 1.35–2.25), with access to media (radio, television or magazine) (aOR = 1.18; 95% CrI = 1.08–1.29), and engaging in employment (aOR = 1.18; 95% CrI = 1.02–1.37) were significantly more likely to have used healthcare services for acute childhood illnesses. On the other hand, women who experienced difficulty getting to health facilities (aOR = 0.87; 95% CrI = 0.75–0.99) were less likely to have used health service for their children.

Conclusions

Our findings highlight that utilization of healthcare service for acute childhood illnesses was influenced by not only maternal factors but also community-level factors, suggesting that public health strategies should recognise this complex web of individual composition and contextual composition factors to guide provision of healthcare services. Such interventions could include: increase in female school enrolment, provision of interest-free loans for small and medium scale enterprises, introduction of mobile clinics and establishment of more primary health care centres.