Abstract
In a given community, health seeking behaviours determine how health care services are used. This in turn determine the health outcomes on members of this community. Utilization of health care facilities can be determined by cost, cultural beliefs, level of education, family incomeand distance to health facility. The purpose of this study was to determine the influence of socio-demographic factors on healthcare seeking behaviors and challenges in utilizing health facilities in the North West Region of Cameroon. The study was a cross sectional survey that used a structured questionnaire to collect quantitative data from 430 participants. The findings showed that despite low incomes and education levels, the study communities have moderate levels of access to services for curative and preventive care. About half of the participants preferred Government health facilities (50.5%) while a small number of participants preferred seeking care from traditional medicine (0.9%). In rural areas, Government health facilities are more preferred than in urban areas; 69.6% of participants in rural zones preferred government facilities whereas they were 43.7% in urban areas (p<0.001, V=0.228). In conclusion, the study sought to evaluate health seeking behaviors of rural and urban dwellers. The goal is to trigger discussions and re-evaluation of health promotion and education policies and programmes to bring about improvement in health seeking behaviours and address issues around health disparities and inequalities.
Highlights
In a given community, health seeking behaviours determine how health care services are used
Formulating strategic policy for health care systems should strive at promoting health seeking behaviours and contribute to increase health service utilization behaviours
The purpose of this study was to determine the influence of socio-demographic factors on healthcare seeking behaviors and challenges in utilizing health facilities in the North West Region of Cameroon
Summary
Health seeking behaviours determine how health care services are used. This in turn determine the health outcomes on members of this community [1, 19]. It has been demonstrated that health seeking behaviours develop within institutional structures such as family, community or the health care services. There are various factors that determine health seeking behaviours ranging from physical, cultural, socio economic and political. The organization of health care systems is a determining factor for health seeking behaviours. In the health systems of developing countries, illiteracy, poverty, under funding of the health care sector, inadequate water and poor sanitation in health facilities has a big impact on health care seeking behaviours and the utilization of health care facilities [3].
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