ROUTINE HEALTH INFORMATION SYSTEM UTILIZATION AND ASSOCIATED FACTORS AMONG HEALTH PROFESSIONALS IN PUBLIC AND PRIVATE HEALTH FACILITIES OF DIRE DAWA, EASTERN ETHIOPIA

Abstract

Background A well-functioning health information system supports the delivery of health services by ensuring the production, analysis, dissemination, and use of reliable information on health determinants, system performance, and health status. Despite the intensive effort to improve the efficiency of information systems and bring cultural transformation in information use in the past few years, the use of information at the local level is still a challenge in Ethiopia. Objectives: To assess routine health information system utilization and its associated factors among health professionals in public and private health facilities of Dire Dawa, Eastern Ethiopia from July 25-August 25, 2021. Methods: An institutional-based comparative cross-sectional study was conducted. A stratified multistage random sampling was used to select 638 participants, with a 1:1 ratio from public and private health facilities. A self-administered pretested structured questionnaire was used to collect data. Data was entered into Epidata version 3.1 and analyzed using STATA version 16.0. Descriptive statistics were used to describe the dependent and independent variables. Binary logistic regression was done to identify factors associated with the outcome variables. AOR with 95% CI was used to report association and significance was declared at P-value<0.05. Results: The current study showed, the overall level of good utilization of routine health information was 44.32% [(95% CI: 38.42%, 50.21%)] and with a significant variation (X2 (df) = 60.77(1), P<0.001) between public [59.8% (95% CI: 52.80%, 66.93%)] and private [28.7% (95% CI: 19.21%, 38.10%)] health facilities. Perceived good culture of information use (AOR= 3.57, 95% CI:1.83,6.96), perceived good competency level (AOR=3.55,95% CI:1.84,6.84), good knowledge status (AOR =4.43, 95% CI:2.33,8.40), working in health center (AOR=2.20, 95% CI: 1.26, 3.85), and working in public health facility (AOR = 2.11, 95% CI: 1.29, 3.44) increased the odds of routine health information use. Conclusion: The level of good utilization of routine health information among health professionals was low in the current study area and significant variation between public and private health facilities were identified. Perceived good of culture of information use, perceived technical competency, knowledge status, working health facilities, and type of institution were the significant predictors of routine health information utilization. Therefore, the identified factors are the area of intervention to enhance the level of routine health information utilization.