Healthcare-Seeking Behaviours of Undergraduate Students and Their Perception of Health Services in a Nigerian Private University Health Centre

Authors

  • EF Bamidele
  • C Amaike
  • AA Taiwo
  • JC Egejuru
  • GO Wali
  • CU Ukpai
  • TO Olayinka

DOI:

https://doi.org/10.30442/ahr.0902-03-196

Abstract

Background: Health-seeking behaviour is defined as the behaviour of people who malfunction or feel sick to find a suitable treatment. One of the critical factors influencing health-seeking behaviour is the satisfaction obtained from healthcare services, which is often linked to the quality of the service received.

Objective: To assess university students' health-seeking behaviour and perception of healthcare services provided at the Babcock University Teaching Hospital, Ilishan-Remo, Nigeria.

Methods: A descriptive, cross-sectional study of 425 undergraduate students of Babcock University was conducted using a validated structured questionnaire. The socio-demographic characteristics, health-seeking behaviour and perception of available services were analysed using descriptive statistics.

Results: About half of the respondents (50.6%) had poor health-seeking behaviour, and most (68.5%) had a positive perception of the healthcare services rendered by the institution’s healthcare facility. Some factors that affected healthcare-seeking behaviour included the non-availability of medications (37.2%), the attitude of healthcare workers (32.5%), and the cost of care (13.6%).

Conclusion: The study demonstrated good health-seeking behaviour and a positive perception of the available healthcare services. However, the factors associated with poor health-seeking behaviour included unavailable medications and the poor attitude of healthcare workers. Regular appraisal and pharmacy restocking should be done to ensure an up-to-date supply of commonly prescribed medications.

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Published

2023-06-25

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Original Research