AN ASSESSMENT OF THE KNOWLEDGE, ATTITUDE AND PRACTICE OF WOMEN OF CHILDBEARING AGE TOWARDS PRIMARY HEALTH CARE SERVICES IN OBUDU LOCAL GOVERNMENT AREA, CROSS RIVER STATE, NIGERIA

Abstract

Background: Primary Health Care (PHC) services are essential for promoting the health and well-being of women of childbearing age. A major factor in the reduction of maternal mortality and promotion of health status is a widespread assessment of healthcare services among women of child bearing age. PHC services are critical in reducing maternal and child mortality rates, which are among the highest in the world. The study aimed to ascertain and assess the knowledge, attitude and practice of primary Health Care services among women of childbearing age with specific objectives of assessing the knowledge of women of childbearing age towards Primary Health Care Services, assessing the attitude of women towards primary health care services and assessing the factors associated with the primary health care services among women of childbearing age in Obudu Local Government Area with the hope of x- raying the factors affecting the assessment of those services at the PHCs level. It is hoped that the study's findings will have implications for healthcare policy and practice to improve the assessment of knowledge, attitude and practice of primary health care services among women of childbearing age. However, to achieve this feat, there is a need for targeted health education and awareness programs that address the cultural and social barriers to healthcare access. Additionally, there is a need to strengthen the healthcare infrastructure and ensure that primary health care services are accessible, affordable, and acceptable to all.

Methodology: This study is a cross-sectional study. Using multistage sampling method to select, 410 women who met the inclusion criteria aged 15-49 years from 5 health facilities into this study. The data obtained was cross- checked for errors and omissions and fed into Statistical Package for Social Sciences (IBM SPSS) version 20 to generate frequencies and proportions. The data was analysed with descriptive statistics and presented in frequency tables and pie chart.

Results: The study participants were women of child bearing age (15-49 years) among which 29.3% were in the age of 35-39years, 60.4% were married, 45.4 had attained secondary school education and 48.8% were farmers. The majority of the respondents agreed that they have heard of Primary Health Care Services such as general outpatient care, immunization services before. The respondents agreed assessing general outpatient services, antenatal Services, Immunization Services, family planning but disagreed with the utilization of delivery services, post-natal services, and treatment of minor illness. Factors that negatively influence accessibility of primary health care service were distant to the health facility, transportation method, and treatment decision by husband, preferred choice of a health facility, inadequate staff and high cost of services.

Conclusion: This study assessed the knowledge, attitude, and practice of women of childbearing age towards primary health care services in Obudu Local Government Area, Cross River State, Nigeria. The findings revealed that the women had a good level of knowledge about primary health care services, but their attitude and practice towards these services were generally moderate. The study identified several factors that influenced the women's utilization of primary healthcare services, including lack of awareness, cultural and social barriers, and inadequate healthcare infrastructure. These findings are consistent with previous studies that have identified similar barriers to healthcare access in Nigeria.