Determinants of the Utilization of Healthcare Services among Farmers in Oyo State, Nigeria

The main asset of farmers is their labour and the utilization of healthcare services will help to improve their health and thus productivity. Some of the problems inhibiting proper utilization of healthcare services in Nigeria include non-availability, inaccessibility and high cost of medical care. The aim of this paper is to examine the determinants of the Utilization of Healthcare Services among farmers in Oyo State. A multistage random sampling technique was used to solicit responses from 140 farmers across two agro-ecological zones of Oyo State. The distance to healthcare services, the quality of treatment, cost of treatment, the availability of healthcare services, type of healthcare services and the method of financing healthcare services were found to significantly influence the utilization of healthcare services among farmers in Oyo State. The study therefore recommends that efforts should be made to provide accessible primary healthcare service centres such that the farmers do not have to walk long distances to access healthcare services. Also, improved healthcare facilities and competent medical personnel should be provided for the farmers at little or no cost so as to improve the utilization rate by farmers who cannot afford medical care.