Socio-demographic factors associated with health conditions and treatment-seeking choices in border communities of Ogun state Nigeria: a cross-sectional study.

BACKGROUND

Border communities in Nigeria are mostly neglected and marginalized rural and remote areas. Hence they face unique health challenges due to scarcity of basic amenities and infrastructure such as clean water, schools, adequate healthcare facilities and services among others. Data on health conditions and treatment-seeking choices in these border areas are limited. Understanding socio-demographic factors associated with health conditions and treatment-seeking choices is vital for proper intervention. This study examined these associations in Ipokia, Yewa North and Imeko-Afon LGAs of Ogun State Nigeria.

METHODS

The study conducted a community-based cross-sectional study with 1,317 respondents aged 18 years and above, from 16th September 2024 to 22nd November 2024, in selected border communities within these three LGAs. A multi-stage sampling technique was used to select these respondents. Structured interviewer-administered questionnaire were used to collect data from the respondents. The socio-demographic characteristics of the respondents were used as the independent variables, while health condition and treatment-seeking choices denoted the dependent variables. Univariate and binary logistic regression analyses were performed on the data using SPSS version 20.

RESULTS

Results show that socio-demographic factors such as age, location, duration in location, level of education, income level and occupation of respondents are significantly associated with the health conditions and treatment-seeking choices of residents in border communities of Ogun State, Nigeria. The study recommends provision of adequate health services, more investments in education and economic empowerment in these border areas, which will help to improve their health outcomes.