A Survey of Health-Seeking Behaviour of Residents in Two Local Government Areas in Ibadan, Oyo State, Nigeria during COVID-19 Pandemic

Abstract

Introduction: COVID-19 has affected all spheres of human endeavour in a developing country like Nigeria. In a bid to stop the spread of this virus, different preventive measures were put in place by all the levels of government. Therefore, studying the health-seeking behaviour of residents in the face of the deadly COVID-19 virus becomes paramount in this study. 
 Aim: This cross-sectional survey sought to investigate various health seeking behaviours exhibited by residents of Oyo state, Nigeria during the COVID-19 Pandemic.
 Methods: In this cross-sectional study, the multi-stage sampling techniques were finally used to select 327 respondents, aged 22-51 years with (Mean = 31.11, SD = 7.22) from two local government areas in Ibadan, Oyo state, Nigeria.
 Results: The result found that majority of the respondents’ experienced one form of signs and symptoms during COVID-19 pandemic. Also, many of the respondents experienced headache as major signs and symptoms during the COVID-19 Pandemic. Furthermore, fear of being diagnosed with COVID-19 was the major barrier to health seeking behaviour during COVID-19 pandemic while taking of local herbs was used by majority of respondents’ during COVID-19 pandemic.
 Conclusion and Recommendation: The COVID-19 pandemic affected residents’ healthcare-seeking behaviour Ibadan, Oyo state Nigeria. It was recommended that professional sociologists and health experts should develop health promotion and intervention programme tailored toward improving heath seeking behaviour of residents during and after COVID-19 pandemic.