Healthcare Seeking Behavior in Nigeria

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Published: Jul 3, 2018
Keywords:
Healthcare seeking behavior; healthcare services; nested multinomial logit; Nigeria

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Noah Olasehinde
Health Policy Training and Research Programme, Department of Economics, University of Ibadan, Nigeria

Abstract

This paper examines the healthcare seeking behavior of household members in Nigeria, specifically focusing on the sources of healthcare services. Traditional and orthodox sources have coexisted in the provision of healthcare services, but this study goes further to show that orthodox services can be accessed through trained healthcare professionals (HCPs) or patent medicine vendors (PMVs); traditional services are mainly offered by herbalists. There are Christians and Muslims who consult faith homes/centers that operate purely on faith and prayer for healing. An estimation model, which involved health-seeking decision, was applied and it was estimated through nested multinomial logit (NML) technique. Data were drawn from the 2010 Harmonised Nigeria Living Standards Survey (HNLSS) conducted by the National Bureau of Statistics. Results demonstrate that individuals tend to consult traditional, PMVs and churches/mosques ahead of HCPs as a result of age and urban/rural locations. The demand for HCP care increases with household income as well as the number of household members.

Article Details

How to Cite
Olasehinde, N. (2018). Healthcare Seeking Behavior in Nigeria. Journal of Population and Social Studies [JPSS], 26(3), 207–218. Retrieved from https://so03.tci-thaijo.org/index.php/jpss/article/view/132483
Issue
Vol. 26 No. 3 (2018): July - September
Section
Research Articles
Author Biography

Noah Olasehinde, Health Policy Training and Research Programme, Department of Economics, University of Ibadan, Nigeria

Corresponding author

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