Access to health care in relation to socioeconomic status in the Amazonian area of Peru

Table 3 Antibiotic use in relation to self reported symptoms and wealth quarters

	Use of antibiotics
Illness	Q1 % using antibiotics (total no children with illness)	Q2 % using antibiotics (total no children with illness)	OR	Q3 % using antibiotics (total no children with illness)	OR	Q4 % using antibiotics (total no children with illness)	OR
Cough/cold	16% (99)	30% (116)	1.85	39% (128)	2.17*	34% (104)	2.29*
Pneumonia	64% (12)	63%(11)	0.93	56% (16)	0.71	53% (14)	0.63
Cough/cold + diarrhoea	38% (62)	62% (46)	2.64*	47% (37)	1.41	52% (30)	1.73
Pneumonia and/or dysentery	16% (18)	80% (13)	21.33*	70% (9)	12.44*	80% (10)	21.33*
Diarrhoea	35% (18)	43% (22)	1.39	-(10)	-	39% (15)	0.93
Total	209	208		200		173

Self reported symptoms were classified as illnesses based on principals from IMCI. Wealth quartiles were defined by principal component analysis (PCA). Quartile 1 (Q1) represents the poorest quartile of the study sample (the relatively poorest of the caregivers), quartile 2 (Q2) the second poorest, quartile 3 (Q3) the second least poor quartile and quarter 4 (Q4) the least poor quartile. Amount of children treated with antibiotics, including through self medication, showed in percentage, total number of children shown in parentheses. OR = Odds ratio showing each wealth quarter as compared to quarter 1. * = p < 0.05

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