Parthograph Utilization and Its Determinant Factors among health care workers in Public health facilities, Dessie town, North East Ethiopia

The usage of the Partograph assists to identify deviations from normal labour progression and supports prompt and effective intervention, which is crucial to help saving the lives of women. This study assessed Partograph utilization and its determinants among health care workers in Dessie town, North East Ethiopia.

A cross-sectional study with an institutional focus was conducted in Dessie Town from December 2016 to March 2017. 267 healthcare workers were selected by systematic random sampling method. Data analysis was performed by SPSS software (version 25.0) using bivariate and multivariate logistic regression.

Despite the fact that 64% of respondents reported that they routinely used a partograph to monitor the progress of labour, actual partograph usage in the study area was quite low (29%) and fell below the WHO standard by one third.  In this study, level of specialization (MSc/specialist) (AOR = 3.52, 95% CI=1.03, 11.98), training on partograph (AOR = 3.63, 95% CI=1.45, 9.09), number of staffs assigned per shift (>2) (AOR=2.12, 95% CI=1.58, 4.11), having good knowledge (AOR = 1.68, 95%CI = 1.21, 3.02) and favourable attitude towards partograph utilization (AOR = 2.00, 95%CI = 1.25, 5.31) were significantly associated with utilization of parthograph at p<0.05.

Compared to WHO recommendation, the actual use of partograph in the research area was extremely low. Health care organizations and other responsible parties should strictly enforce partograph usage for every woman, set up training for all obstetric health care professionals, and assign enough obstetric health care professionals per shift.