Aknaw Kawza|Gebeyehu Dejene|Tesfahun Hailemariam
Outpatient Health Service Utilization in Pastoralist Communities of South Omo Zone, Southern Ethiopia
background almost pastoralist communities sub saharan africa living arid semiarid areas mobile search water grass suitable place well livestock mobility strategy manage efficiently uncertainty fragile environment settled life risky studies show mobility renders utilization health social services rather difficult outpatient service utilization pattern pastoralist communities ethiopia studied available data mostly institution based methods crosssectional study conducted 771 people february march 2012 three pastoralist woredas districts south omo zone located south western part ethiopia study employed quantitative qualitative data collection methods quantitative data collected use pretested questionnaire interviewers trained purpose focus group discussions carried collecting qualitative data systematic sampling technique used household selection data entry editing analysis done using spss window version 160 statistical programs ethical clearance obtained jimma university collage public health medical science ethical review committee results 771 study participants 215 female 785 male 869 illiterate 131 elementary education 942 followers traditional cultural beliefs 58 protestant mean age 35 years total 536695 individuals 414 males 122 females reported least one episode illness within one year recall period regard response illness episodes 242451 reported selftreated 217405 went traditional healers 7710 used modern health facilities main factors affecting outpatient utilization distance level household literacy conclusion findings show low utilization services among mobile pastoralists south omo zone southwest ethiopia main factors affecting outpatient utilization distance level household literacy reducing distance health facilities expansion primary education recommended