Performance of Community Health and Nutrition Volunteers and Associated Factors in Hajjah, Yemen

Abstract

Background: since the Community Health and Nutrition Volunteers (CHNVs) program established, the performance of CHNVs has never been evaluated.

Aims: to evaluate the performance of the CHNVs, and its associated factors.

Methods: a cross-sectional study design was conducted in Bani Qais and Al-Maghrabah districts, Hajjah governorate between January and April 2023. Odds ratios with 95% confidence intervals (CI) were calculated. A p-value < 0.05 was considered statistically significant.

Results: A total of 65 CHNVs participated in this study. Almost 53.8% of CHNVs had-high performance, 29.2% had moderate performance, and 16.9% had low performance level.

The multivariate regression analysis of factors associated with the performance of CHNVs revealed that the percentage of CHNVs who were involved in an occupation was high-performance compared to those not involved in any occupation (68.8% vs 39.4%). This association was statistically significant [adjusted odds ratio (aOR) = 10.8, 95% CI: 1.1-105.9, p value = 0.041].

Moreover, the percentage of CHNVs who serve 22 or less children under 24 months old was high-performance compared to those serving more than 22 children under 24 months old (69.7% vs 37.5%). This association was statistically significant (aOR = 7.9, 95% CI: 1.2 - 51.5, p value = 0.031).

Conclusions: the performance of CHNVs is inadequate. The main job and number of children under 24 months served were significantly affected the performance of CHNVs.