The Determinants of Sustainable Utilization of Primary Health Care Facilities in Isiala-Mbano, Imo, Nigeria

Abstract

This study evaluates the intriguing determinants of sustainable

utilization of primary health care facilities by residents in Isiala-

Mbano, using spatial distance and access as indicators. A stratified

random sampling method was used to select a sample population of

475. Questionnaire and interviews were used to elicit information

from the respondents, while geospatial tools were used for mapping

the spatial distributions of health centers. Analyses of data using

descriptive statistics, geographic information system, nearest

neighbour analysis, Pearson product moment correlation

coefficient, and student’s t-test revealed that: (i) primary health

care facilities are randomly distributed within the study area as

indicated by the Nearest Neighbour Index of R = 1.164. (ii)

Estimated Euclidean distances from users’ houses to nearest

primary health care facilities showed that 66.5 percent of the users

live within 1 km and 33.5 percent live between 1 km to 2.3 km from

the nearest PHCFs. (iii) Average Nearest Neighbour Distance gave

1.3708 km with good topography. The ratio of population to health

center gave 11,972:1, implying that Isiala-Mbano is adequately

served by primary health care centers, but the levels of utilizations

were generally very low due to lack of qualified personnel and valid

drugs for patients. This study concluded that there is no significant

relationship between the distance of primary health care facilities

and the level of utilization in the study area. There is need for timely

health care facility reform through the supply of essential drugs and

specialized manpower in the study area