Health information seeking behaviour of residents of Ota, Ogun State, Nigeria

Jacob Kehinde Opele, PhD, Joshua Oluwaseyi Abiala & Kikelomo Uthman
Keywords: Health information seeking, residents, cosmopolitan, Ogun State, Nigeria
Journal of Library Services and Technologies 2022 4(1), 1-13. Published: September 7, 2022

Abstract

This study evaluated how inhabitants of Ogun State, Nigeria's cosmopolitan districts, sought for health information. In order to acquire quantitative data from patients using diagnostic centers in Ogun State, Nigeria's cosmopolitan areas, this study used a non-experimental descriptive survey approach. Residents who visited diagnostic centers in Ogun State, Nigeria's cosmopolitan neighborhoods were the study's target group. A total of 200 residents who regularly used the chosen diagnostic facilities were chosen as a sample for the study. For each chosen diagnostic facility, the sample size was determined proportionally to the entire patient population. A structured questionnaire with both closed-ended and open-ended questions was created in accordance with the objective and literature review. The study's data was analyzed utilizing pertinent statistical methods. For the particular goals, frequency counts, percentage distributions, and the Relative Importance Index (RII) were calculated. The Statistical Package for Social Sciences (SPSS) version 20 was used to do this. Findings showed that patrons of medical diagnostic centers in Ogun State's cosmopolitan regions did so because they trusted private hospital doctors' clinical judgment and the precision of their diagnoses. According to additional research, factors influencing patient choice included price of care, the opportunity to consult with more experienced doctors, accessibility, staff attitudes, availability of quality diagnostic services, non-availability in public facilities, and the ability to trust a doctor's clinical judgment, among others. Studies have revealed that Nigerians seek incorrect health care. The results also showed that the most significant barriers to health-seeking behavior in the selected medical diagnostic facilities included high costs of care, the lack of some services at public facilities, staff attitudes, problems with quality diagnostic services, encountering more experienced doctors, incomplete reports in other facilities, the lack of accuracy of results, a lack of confidence in doctors' clinical judgment, and poor facility management. The study came to the conclusion that the diagnostic centers' medical staff's opinions were more valued and their services were more complete than those offered by the public health institutions in the same region.