SOCIAL DETERMINANTS OF DIFFERENTIAL ACCESS TO HEALTH SERVICES ACROSS FIVE STATES OF SOUTHEAST NIGERIA

Abstract

Differential access to health remains a critical problem facing health care delivery system in Nigeria. The composition and character of social determinants that generate such unequal and uneasy access differ across geo-political zones of the country due to diversity of social-cultural attributes. This study, anchored on cross-sectional survey design and guided by three research questions examined the determinants of differential access to health services across the five states of southeast Nigeria. A sample size of 200 respondents drawn through multi-stage and simple random sampling techniques constituted the study participants. A multiple triangulation of instruments comprising questionnaire, in-depth interview and focused group discussions were combined and complemented each other in the data gathering process. The study found that access to health services is strongly affected by factors like level of education, gender, patriarchal social arrangement, rural residence, poverty, religious and cultural beliefs about certain diseases and location of health facilities etc. It was recommended that provision of health services must be complemented with institutional arrangement and massive public enlightenment that counter several social constraints that prevent access and full utilization of health services by the people of southeast Nigeria.