Factors associated with the healthcare-seeking behaviour of older people in Nigeria.

This study aimed to examine the factors associated with healthcare-seeking behaviour of Nigeria's older adult population. Data were retrieved from the Nigeria General Household Survey (GHS - year 2013) database, representative at the national level. Bivariate analysis and Poisson regression were performed. Among 3587 adults aged 50 years and over, 850 reported having been sick in the previous four weeks, and 53% of those had consulted a health practitioner in that period. Those consulting were more likely to be women (PR = 1.30, 95% CI [1.1-1.15]), older than 65 (PR = 1.25, 95% CI [1.1-1.5]), and unemployed (PR = 1.24, 95% CI [1.0-1.4]), whereas lack of education (PR = 0.73, 95% CI [0.6 0-0.8]), low household income (PR = 0.72, 95% CI [0.5-0.9]) and living in the South East (PR = 0.59 95% CI [0.4-0.7]) and in the South South zones (PR = 0.60 95% CI [0.4-0.7]) were associated with lower consultation rates. Our results suggest that improving older adults' healthcare-seeking behaviour in Nigeria will require the lifting of financial barriers and improvements to education. More studies are needed to better understand geographic differences and the low consultation rate by men.