Perception and Demographic factors as Determinants of Health Seeking Behaviour among Urban and Rural dwellers in Nasarawa Sate, Nigeria

Abstract

It is important to note that, perception is a powerful tool that drives individual behaviour including health-seeking behaviour. Unfortunately, the perception of HIV/AIDS and health-seeking behaviour has not been researched particularly in Nasarawa State. This study therefore looks at the perception of HIV/AIDS and demographic factors as determinants of health-seeking behaviour among rural and urban dwellers in Nasarawa State. A cross-sectional survey design was used and the researcher used 300 participants comprising 169 (56.3%) male, 129 (43.0%) female with 2 (0.7%) of the respondents who did not indicate their sex. Their ages ranged from 13 to 60 years of age with an average age of 31.95 (SD = 27.00). Two standardized instruments comprising of perception of HIV/AIDS Scale developed by Wyk, (2005) and health-seeking behaviour scale developed by Topkaya, Şahin and Meydan, (2007). Three research hypotheses were formulated and tested and the result from the first hypothesis showed that there was a significant influence of perception of HIV/AIDS on health-seeking behaviour among rural and urban dwellers in Nasarawa State [R = .393 and R² = .155, F (1, 272) = 3.291; p<.05]. Beta weight [β = -.109, t = -1.814; p<.01] shows that urban and rural dwellers in Nasarawa State significantly have negative perceptions and as such, scored less on health-seeking behaviour. Finding from the second hypothesis showed that, there was a significant location difference on health-seeking behaviour among urban and rural dwellers in Nasarawa State [t (274) = -1.903; p<.01] with participants in rural areas (Mean = 40.14; SD = 14.96) significantly scoring higher on health-seeking behaviour than their urban counterparts (Mean = 36.99; SD = 12.47). From the third hypothesis, it was found that there was no significant relationship between age and health-seeking behaviour among urban and rural dwellers in Nasarawa State [r (267) = .004; p>.05]. The findings were discussed in line with other studies and conclusions were drawn. It was recommended that there is a need for an appropriate education program for the entire population in Nasarawa State to enable them to change their perception towards HIV/AIDS as this will go a long way in encouraging them to seek health and help themselves including their loved ones.