Discrimination in Seeking Medical Care for Female Child from Birth to Adolescence - A Retrospective Study

Objective To study the bias in seeking medical care for female child in various age groups from birth to adolescence. Methods It is a retrospective analysis of the hospital records for the period January 2010 through December 2012. The sex ratio was calculated for different age groups including newborns delivered, patients attending OPD (0-12 y), children attending immunization centre (0-5 y), patients admitted in pediatric wards segregated in different age groups i.e., < 1 y, 1-4 y, 5-9 y and 10-14 y. Chi square test was used to find out if there was any variation in the sex ratio of patients attending the hospital against the sex ratio in the community. Results The mean sex ratio of patients (0-12 y) attending the pediatric OPD was 726 which is significantly lower than the sex ratio in the community (p < 0.00001). The sex ratio of patients (0-5 y) visiting immunization centre (846) was also significantly lower than sex ratio in the community (p = 0.0343). Among children delivered in the hospital mean sex ratio at birth was 934 against a sex ratio of 920 at birth in the reference population. The sex ratio of admitted patients was significantly lower in age groups < 1 y (617, p value < 0.00001), 1-4 y (665, p value < 0.00001), 5-9 y (665, p value < 0.05). But the sex ratio improved for inpatients in the age group 10-14 y (794, p = 0.08). Conclusions There is a strong bias against females for seeking medical attention both for outpatient and inpatient care. The bias is more for females in younger age groups as compared to adolescents.