Socio-Demographic Determinants and Utilization of Social Health Insurance Services among Civil Servants in Bayelsa State

Abstract

Background: Social health insurance is one of the possible organizational mechanisms for raising and pooling funds to finance health services with a view to improving health and well-being. Socio-demographic factors such as level of education, income status, family size, gender, and other factors all contribute to healthcare utilization. This study assessed the socio-demographic determinants of utilization of social health insurance services among civil servants in Bayelsa State. Method: A descriptive cross-sectional survey design was adopted with a population consisting of seven thousand and sixty (7060) civil servants in Bayelsa State. A sample size of 491 was selected using multistage sampling procedure. Data were collected with a structured questionnaire and analyzed using mean, standard deviation, and point biserial correlation at 0.05 alpha level. Results: The results of the study showed that the level of utilization of the national health insurance scheme among respondents was high (3.02±0.89). Utilization of social health insurance services had a significant relationship with socio-demographic factors such as gender (n = 491; r = 0.44; p<0.01), household size (n = 491; r = 0.72; p<0.01), educational status (n = 491; r = 0.54; p<0.01) and income status (n = 491; r = 0.50, p<0.01). Conclusion: The socio-demographic determinants of utilization of social health insurance services among civil servants in Bayelsa State were gender, household size, educational status, income status and availability of services. It was concluded among others that the Bayelsa State government should continue to strengthen advocacy programs in support of social health insurance scheme to all the civil servants in the State.