PERCEPTION AND PATTERN OF UTILISATION OF N.O IDOWU PRIMARY HEALTHCARE CENTRE AMONG MOTHERS OF UNDER-FIVE IN ENIOSA-COMMUNITY, LAGELU LOCAL GOVERNMENT AREA, OYO STATE

Abstract

Low-utilisation of primary healthcare centres is one of the major factors that could lead to maternal mortality. According to World Health Organisation, approximately 830 women daily from pregnancy and childbirth related causes, 99% of this maternal death occur in developing countries. Nathaniel Olabiyi Idowu Primary Health Centre is the first non-profit charitable health organisation providing health care to Eniosa rural community. Despite all the activities of the N. O. Idowu Primary healthcare centre such as organizing medical checkups and health education periodically for the community, there is still low utilisation of these services at the health care centre. This study explored the perception and pattern of utilisation of Nathaniel Olabiyi Idowu Primary Healthcare Centre among mothers of the under-five in Eniosa, Lagelu Local Government, Area Ibadan. A cross-sectional survey was employed and a three-stage sampling technique was used to select 160 participants. A mixed method of qualitative and quantitative was used for this study. Five focus group discussions (FGDs) were conducted using a focus group discussion guide and semi-structured interviewer-administered questionnaire to collect quantative data. The questionnaire elicited information on socio-demographic characteristics, perception, pattern of utilisation of health services, perceived factors influencing utilisation of health services. A 9-point perception scale graded into negative (≤4) and positive (>4) was used to measure the respondents’ perception. A 14-point utilisation scale graded into poor utilisation (≤7) and good utilisation (>7) was used to measure utilisation. Qualitative data was analysed using thematic approach while quantitative data were analysed with SPSS version 21 and presented in descriptive, and inferential statistics at 5% level of significance. The findings show that the respondents belong to the mean age 29.1±5.5 years. A total of 92.5% of the respondents belong to the Yoruba ethnic group. Also, most of the participants across the FGD groups perceived the health centre as a good place to receive quality health care, 82.1% of the respondents had a positive perception but good utilisation was 26.9%. Also, perception was found to be significantly associated with the utilisation of N. O. Idowu Primary healthcare centre at p-value <0.05. Most of the women across the FGD groups prefered utilising other choices of health care than the health centre. There exists a significant association between occupation and utilisation of the N. O. Idowu Primary healthcare centre (p=0.026). Cost of service was one of the factors that encourage low utilisation. Furthermore, there was no significant relationship between other factors influencing utilisation of health care and utilisation of health services. The cost of services was 0.7 less likely to increase health utilisation than any other studied factors which included distance of the health centre and attitude of the health workers (OR=0.724, 95% CI: 0.216-2.421). Perception of the respondents was good while pattern of utilisation of the community health centre was poor. Therefore, health education in form of training and seminars should be carried out to increase utilisation and awareness of N. O. Idowu Primary healthcare centre services also cost effective methods and materials should be employed to increase utilisation.