Comparative Assessment of Health Status and Health-Seeking Behaviour of Household Heads in Rural and Urban Areas of Abia State, Nigeria

Abstract

Health status of a nation is closely linked to the health seeking behavior and its economic growth. Therefore, this study aims to examine the health status and health-seeking behaviour of household heads in urban and rural areas of Abia State, Nigeria using a mixed model approach. An analytical cross-sectional study design was employed where the quantitative data was collected using a structured questionnaire to compare the health status and health-seeking behaviour of urban (n=450) and rural household heads (n=447). For the qualitative arm of the study, data was collected through focus group discussions using an interview guide. The results show that a significantly higher percentage of rural household heads (10.3%) perceive their health status as ‘very good’ compared to their urban counterparts (4.2%), p-value <0.05. Additionally, urban household heads reported a higher incidence of illness (85.2% vs. 36.2%), where malaria (70.9% vs. 9.9%) and typhoid (34.3% vs. 4.3%)ranked highest. Regarding their health seeking behavior, urban household heads were first sought care from to private hospitals (n=102, 26.6%) followed by chemist shops (n=212, 55.2%), while their rural counterpart first sought treatment from primary health centres. To conclude, these findings suggest that although urban household heads have seemingly better health-seeking behaviour than the rural, the effect of urbanization has negatively affected their health status. Therefore, more concerted efforts should be geared at designing health promotion campaigns to improve the health status of the population whilst addressing barriers to seeking health care such as financial constraint and cost of transportation.