Perception towards Primary Health Care Service Utilisation among Women of Childbearing Age in Imo State, Nigeria

Abstract

Primary Health Care (PHC) is considered to be the foundation of a proper functioning health system and it has been accepted worldwide as a cost-saving approach to better population health results, especially among population groups who are at risk, like women of childbearing age and children who are under five years. This study determined perception towards primary health care service utilization among women of childbearing age in Imo State. Three hundred and seventy-nine (379) respondents were recruited for the study. A descriptive, cross-sectional, and community-based design was adopted for the study.  Multi-stage sampling method was used in this study. The first stage involved simple random sampling where 7 towns were selected from the 12 villages by balloting.  At the second stage, 30% of the communities were randomly selected from each of the selected towns, this gave rise to a total of 22 communities.  The respondents were selected from the twenty-two study communities using systematic sampling method, with the houses in the communities as sampling unit, and a sampling fraction of 19 in each community. The results of the study revealed that age of respondents was significantly associated with perception towards PHC utilisation (χ² = 12.84, p = 0.012), with women aged 24–29 years exhibiting more positive perceptions. Marital status also showed a statistically significant association (χ² = 18.23, p = 0.001), as married women demonstrated a higher likelihood of positive perception compared with single and divorced respondents. Parity was significantly related to perception (χ² = 16.41, p < 0.001), indicating that women with higher parity had better appreciation and utilisation of PHC services. Educational attainment showed a strong significant association with perception (χ² = 29.67, p < 0.001), with respondents who had secondary and tertiary education demonstrating more favourable perception towards PHC services. Religion, occupation, and monthly income were also significantly associated with perception (p < 0.05), suggesting that socio-economic empowerment influences women’s attitude and utilisation of PHC services. Positive perceptions observed towards timely registration, skilled care, emergency transportation, and referral mechanisms suggest increasing awareness of maternal health needs.