ABSTRACT
Introduction: TheCOVID-19 pandemic has had a tremendous impact on the health, economy and social interactions of individuals globally, constituting a public health challenge. COVID-19 is highly contagious and has devastating implications for health. Therefore, prompt health seeking behaviour at appropriate healthcare facilities is crucial to reduce the risk of transmission and worsening of the disease course, while factors that negatively influence the health beliefs and health seeking behaviour of individuals are addressed.
Objectives: This study assessed the effect of COVID-19 on the health beliefs and healthcare seeking behaviour of heads of household in Ekosodin, Benin City, Nigeria.
Methodology: A descriptive cross-sectional study was carried out amongst 480 heads of households in Ekosodin community, Benin City, Nigeria. Respondents were selected using a multistaged sampling technique. The data were collected using a structured interviewer administered questionnaire adapted from previous studies on COVID-19, health beliefs and health seeking behaviour. The data were analysed using IBM SPSS version 25.0, with the level of significance set at p < 0.05.
Results: The mean age of the respondents was 41.6 ± 13.7 years. A tenth, 49 (10.2%) of the respondents had harmful health beliefs and a majority, 410 (85.4%) had good health seeking behaviour. The factors associated with health beliefs were socio-economic factors such as level of education (p < 0.001), household income (p = 0.008), skill level (p = 0.001) and socio-economic status (p < 0.001). However, these were not statistically significant on further multivariate analysis. The factors associated with the health seeking behaviour were age (p = 0.007), marital status (p < 0.001) and household income (p = 0.013), while marital status (OR = 0.392) and level of education (OR = 0.282) were predictors of health seeking behaviour. Marital status (p = 0.014) and level of education (p = 0.045) showed a significant relationship with the effect of COVID-19 on health seeking behaviour. On further multivariate analysis, marital status (OR = 3.321) and household income (OR = 0.112) were predictors of the effect of COVID-19 on health seeking behaviour.
Conclusion: The study showed that majority of the respondents had good health seeking behaviour and about a quarter had beneficial health beliefs. The respondents had good health seeking behaviour, despite the COVID-19 pandemic. The Government should foster health education of the populace and heads of households should seek healthcare promptly to prevent worsening of illness.
Keywords: Household, Health Beliefs, Health Seeking Behaviour, COVID-19, Benin City
