Health Seeking Behaviours of Internally Displaced Persons in Maiduguri, Borno State, Nigeria

Abstract

The study investigated health seeking behaviours of IDPs accessing health services in IDPs camps in Maiduguri, Borno State, Nigeria. Specifically, the study determined the health seeking behaviours of IDPs based demographic variables of age, gender, marital status and level of education. The cross-sectional research design was adopted for the study. The population for the study consisted of 17,710 IDPs with a sample size of 400 IDPs. The instrument for data collection was the Health Seeking Behaviours of Internally Displaced Persons Questionnaire (HSBIDPQ). Data were analysed using frequencies, percentages and Chi-square test. The results of the study showed that 43.2 per cent of IDPs adopted health seeking behaviours. Specifically, the first action taken by IDPs experiencing any health problem is to consult a physician (43.2%), consult a traditional practitioner (25.5%) or self-medicate (31.3%). The preferred place for seeking healthcare includes private clinics (60.7%), pharmacy/patent medical store (31.3%) and hospitals (8.1%). The preferred healthcare provider includes CHEWs and JCHEW (39.1%), doctors (35.4%) and patent medicine dealers (25.5%). There was no significant difference at .05 level of significance in the health seeking behaviours of IDPs accessing health services in IDPs camps based on age, gender, marital status and education level. It was recommended among others that Government agencies and non-governmental organizations (NGOs) should increase availability of healthcare services by establishing additional and affordable healthcare facilities and mobile clinics within IDP camps for all IDPs, ensuring comprehensive healthcare access.