The Morbidities Experienced during and after the 2017 Flood in Port Harcourt

Abstract

Background: Floods are a type of natural phenomena, identified as the world most common natural disaster with a major ravaging impact claiming lives, causing property damage, destruction of environment and infrastructure, and increasing health impacts. Port Harcourt Metropolis, the capital of Rivers State was greatly affected by the 2017 flood. Hence this study aims to determine the morbidities experienced during and after the 2017 flood. Materials and Methods: The study was a combination of quantitative and qualitative research for effective triangulation. A cross-sectional study was carried out. Data were collected through self-administered semi-structured questionnaires and key informant interviews. Data was analysed using Microsoft excel for editing, SPSS version 20 for quantitative analysis and Nvivo version 12.0 was used for qualitative analysis. Results: A total of 210 respondents were administered questionnaires but had response rate of 96.67% and a total of 3 key informants were interviewed with a 100% response rate. Amongst these respondents were 44.8% male and 55.2% female, with respondents’ mean age of 35.96±11.15. The frequencies of occurrence of morbidities of the residents and the 2017 flood were analyzed using percentage and chi-square test and the result showed a statistical significance (p < 0.05) between both variables. Conclusion: The findings showed that the morbidities experienced during the flood had higher prevalence than post flood morbidities, but an exception was dark urine. These flood risks and morbidity outcomes can however be controlled through adequate preventive measures and recommendable interventions.