Socio-Demographic Correlates of Illness Behaviour Among Pregnant Women in Gboko Local Government Area of Benue State, Nigeria

Abstract

Illness behaviour has multiple effects on pregnancy outcome of pregnant women particularly in the middle belt areas of Nigeria. This study determined the socio-demographic correlates of illness behaviour of pregnant women in Gboko LGA of Benue state, Nigeria. Using correlational design, a total of 480 pregnant women were sampled and studied. A researcher structured questionnaire with a reliability coefficient of .84 was used for data collection. The illness behaviour of the pregnant women was determined through a correlation coefficient index < 0 = negative relationship; 0 -.009 = No relationship (NR); .01 – 19 = very low relationship (VLR); .20 -.39 = low relationship (LR); .40-.69 = moderate relationship (MR); .70 –.89 = high relationship (HR); .90 -.99 = very high relationship (VHR). All the research questions were answered using Pearson product moment correlation while linear regression analysis was adopted in verifying the null hypotheses of no significant difference at 0.05. The following results were found: there was no significant relationship between level of education (r= -.009; p=.848), very low mean correlation between occupation (r= -.042; p= .369); and very low relationship between income (r= -.087; p= .063) of pregnant women and their illness behaviours. There was very low correlation between socio-demographics and illness behaviours of pregnant women in Gboko LGA. Therefore, health professionals should educate pregnant women and equip them with the necessary skills to face pregnancy-related illnesses with ease.