Morbidity in rural southwestern Nigeria: a one year follow up of voluntary health worker consultations in Idere, Oyo State, Nigeria.

There is paucity of information on morbidity pattern at the community level in Nigeria. Available literature shows that most are based on hospital data from which rates cannot be generated. In addition, the low access to hospitals in the country especially in rural areas, coupled with inappropriate health care seeking behaviour in the community limits the usefulness of information derived from hospital data. This study was aimed at determining disease patterns in a rural community in Nigeria using the records of voluntary health workers. We followed up a well-defined rural community for one year and collated records of active voluntary health workers (VHWs) who provide health care to these communities. Results showed that Malaria, upper respiratory tract infections (URTI), diarrhoea, measles and accidents were the most common ailments for which the community members sought health care. The annual morbidity rates were malaria 25.4%, URTI 6.0%, accidents 3.2%, and diarrhoea 2.7%. Rates generally decrease with increasing age, except for accidents, for which the rates were highest amongst school-aged children (5-14 years) and lowest amongst adults. Recommendations made include strengthening malaria control efforts, improving routine immunization coverage and providing health education regarding accident prevention.