Background:The level of education is reported to have a role to influence the healthcare perception and thus, determine the healthcare-seeking behavior in a region. Furthermore, the cultural aspects are important to establish the unique pattern of its community-based healthcare.

Objective:Our study aimed to assess the association between educational attainment and healthcare-seeking pattern and behavior in Sumbawa District, West Nusa Tenggara Province, Indonesia

Materials and Methods: A structured questionnaire was adapted according to the International Questionnaire to Measure Use of Complementary and Alternative Medicine (I-CAM-Q) and used to collect quantitative data among 712 participants in five rural districts of West Nusa Tenggara Province, including Sumbawa District, from April to June 2018. Data analysis was conducted using SPSS Statistics version 22.

Results:76.2% of the population in Sumbawa District has completed at least an upper secondary level of education. In addition, the majority of participants agreed that the distance was not an obstacle to visit a medical practitioner, the highest rate among all rural districts (p < 0.0005) as well as the confidence in the competence of healthcare providers (P < 0.0005) and the price of healthcare services (P < 0.0005). Interestingly, the visit to alternative medicine providers such as an acupuncturist, traditional healer, and masseur was also relatively high.

Conclusion: We showed that high level of educational attainment might significantly influence the healthcare-seeking behavior in a community; however, the local culture of a rural region is also a major determinant for the selection of healthcare provider. A thorough analysis of the association between sociodemographic and health-seeking patter is necessary to provide pivotal information for policymakers.

Key words:Educational attainment, Sumbawa, West Nusa Tenggara, Health-seeking behavior, Healthcare provider