Abstract
Studies have associated demographic characteristics as strong determinants of utilization of health care services; however, not much has been done to explore the dynamics of these variables in Nigeria. This empirical study explores the link between demographic factors and the use of health care services. 543 respondents were selected using multi-stage sampling technique. The findings showed that a majority (56.9%) of the respondents were female while (50.3%) were married. Testing the demographic characteristics regarding where people will prefer to go for treatment with multiple regression, it is only sex as a demographic variable that indicates positive association, with 0.08 level of significance. Variables such as age and education did not indicate any strong correlation with health care services utilization in the study area. This result corroborates the reality in many parts of African society where it is the father that dictates the cause of action. That means gender plays an important role in the utilization of health care delivery.
Highlights
According to Erinosho (2006) [1], social status is intrinsically linked to health
He asserts that the effect of socio-economic status as a factor influencing choice and utilization of health facilities is more pronounced in developing countries because of the greater relative differences, and because of the scarcity of health services
The influence of ethnicity upon health care utilization is large due to the shared framework within which ethic group view the provision of health services
Summary
According to Erinosho (2006) [1], social status is intrinsically linked to health. Highly educated Nigerians are less likely to think that various physical disorders are caused by witchcraft, but may do so if illness is of an emotional or intractable nature. Benyoussef (1977) [2] in his research on the factors that determine high and low level of utilization of health services discovers that there are cultural and economic differences existing between the categories of those that make use of health services and those that do not. He asserts that the effect of socio-economic status as a factor influencing choice and utilization of health facilities is more pronounced in developing countries because of the greater relative differences, and because of the scarcity of health services. Mckinlay and Arches (1985) [6] found, for example, that persons with close-knit and interlocking social networks tended to display greater conformity with these reference groups than those with loose-knit differential social network
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