Psycho-Socio Personal Predictors of Health-Seeking Behaviours among Young Adults in Tertiary Institutions in Delta State, Nigeria

Abstract

The psycho socio-economic personal devastating issues of climate change and emerging health issues like Ebola and COVID-19 have resulted in massive preventable deaths among young adults and increased ill-health in most Nigerian campuses. The result of emerging health issues birthed a new normal requiring new health knowledge, practices, skills, and innovations of health-seeking behaviour in nearly all facets of human endeavor that conform to global climate change and emerging health issues instituted by Covid-19 prevention protocols designed to curb its spread. One such health survival strategy is the promotion of positive health-seeking behaviour of young adults in tertiary institutions in Delta State. This research investigates the joint contribution of the independent variables (health education, personal income, safe water, stress management, environmental sanitation, food security, nutritional practice, medical check-up, physical exercise, personal hygiene, attitudinal behaviour, cultural belief, access to basic health services, personal health) as predictors of health-seeking behaviour among young adults in tertiary institutions in Delta state. A total of 7620 questionnaires were sent out for the study; 4000 females but 3869 (56.5%) were correctly filled and 3500 males but 2981 (43.5%) were correctly filled by young adults in eight tertiary institutions in Delta State, Nigeria. The findings of this study revealed that psychological and personal factors are significant predictors of health-seeking behavior among young adults and social factors are not significant to health-seeking behavior among young adults. There was no significant gender difference in health knowledge and health-seeking behaviour among tertiary students. Recommendation was made that the State government should make healthcare services available and accessible to students in all our tertiary institutions in Delta state at affordable cost to discourage negative health-seeking behaviours from quacks and unqualified healthcare givers, patronizing patent medicine stores to avoid preventable deaths, spread of infectious diseases’ and promote the personal health of students while in the campus.