Uptake, Determinants and Barriers to the Utilization of Preventive Healthcare Services in Rural Benue State, Nigeria

Abstract

Utilization of preventive healthcare services is essential for reducing disease burden and improving overall health outcomes. This study assessed the uptake, determinants, and barriers to the utilization of preventive healthcare services among health workers and rural residents in Benue State, Nigeria, using a descriptive survey design. The study adopted a descriptive survey design and a positivist research paradigm. The study adopted a multistage sampling technique from rural communities and primary healthcare centres in the state. A structured questionnaire was used to collect data, from 411 respondents for both health workers and. The data obtained were analyzed using the Statistical Package for the Social Sciences (SPSS) version 23.0. Descriptive statistics such as frequencies, percentages, and means were used to answer the research questions, while Pearson’s correlation coefficient was used to test the hypotheses at the 0.05 level of significance. Results obtained showed that the uptake of preventive healthcare services was moderate, with higher utilization observed for services such as counselling for healthy living, blood pressure screening, and blood sugar testing, while services like cholesterol and cancer screening recorded relatively low uptake. The findings further revealed that several barriers significantly influenced utilization, including cost of services, distance to health facilities, poor quality of care, and socio-cultural factors. In addition, socio-demographic characteristics such as age, gender, education, income, occupation, and family size were found to have significant associations with the uptake of preventive healthcare services. The study also identified key facilitators and strategies for improving uptake, including reducing the cost of services, improving healthcare infrastructure, enhancing health worker attitudes, expanding health insurance coverage, and strengthening community outreach and awareness programmes.