SOCIO-ECONOMIC STATUS AND WOMEN’S HEALTHCARE UTILIZATION: A STUDY OF SELECTED AREAS IN NIGERIA

Literature bordering on women’s health care utilization in relation to their socioeconomic status (SES) and other socio-cultural factors abound. However, while these studies have been carried out in different places across the globe under varying social conditions, and particularly on maternal mortality and morbidity issues, little is still known about the effects of SES on women’s health care utilization in Nigeria. Consequently, this study described women’s beliefs about the effects of socioeconomic status in their utilization of health care services in Lokoja and Dekina Local Government Areas of Kogi State, Nigeria. By means of a probability multistage cluster sampling procedure and a purposive sampling method, we selected five hundred and ninety two respondents for the survey and sixteen respondents for the Focus Group Discussions. Following analyses of data, it was revealed that education, occupation and income impact on women’s decision, quality of treatment, frequency of visits to the hospital, length and duration of hospital stay, time of visits to the hospital, and the type of health facilities visited. Also, the women in the study sample reported that they utilize health care services most frequently during the incidences of chronic disease like hypertension, diabetes, etc in the past six months compared with other incidences of illnesses and diseases. The study therefore recommends that women’s socio-economic standing must be improved by workable policies that are aimed at improving their chances in the socio-economic ladder in order for them to fully maximize the opportunities inherent in the utilization of health care services.