Paucity of health information: an hindrance to utilization of eye care services by adult population of Yewa South Local Government Area, Ogun State, Nigeria

Abstract

Background/Objective: The study was carried out to determine the utilization of orthodox eye care services bypersons aged 40 years and above who were resident in Yewa South LGA of Ogun State, Nigeria. Design/Methods:It was a descriptive cross-sectional study carried out between February and April 2015. A multistage samplingmethod was used to select eligible participants in 4 randomly selected settlements in 4 randomly selected wardsamong the 10 wards in Yewa South LGA of Ogun State. Results: Level of utilization of eye care services amongparticipants was only 45.8%. Age ?70 years (p=0.018) and being educated (p=0.019) significantly increased thelevel of awareness and utilization of eye care services. Participants with previous eye symptoms (OR=6.20, CI:3.71 - 10.38) had higher utilization of eye care services. Conclusion: The study showed that the level ofawareness of eye care services is suboptimal as a result of paucity of health information. This accounts for lowrate (< 50%) of utilization of eye care services in Yewa-South local Government of Ogun State.Keywords: Health information; patient education; eye care services; utilization; service availability