Gender Analysis of the Effect of Income on Farming Households Utilization of Modern Health Care Services in Kwara State, Nigeria

The study made use of a gender disaggregated data to examine the effect of income on modern healthcare utilization among female and male headed household farmers in Kwara State, Nigeria. A total of 200 households were randomly selected for the study. A structured questionnaire was used for the purpose of extracting needed information from the respondents. The data collected was analyzed with descriptive statistics and Ordinary least square regression analysis. The mean annual health expenditure of the male and female headed households were #2,810 and #4,010 respectively. The result of regression analysis revealed that access to modern healthcare service, years of schooling, membership of Social group and amount of credit accessed significantly affects utilization of modern heath care among the male farming households heads while household size, years of schooling, access to healthcare service, amount of credit, membership of social group and Income affects the utilization of modern healthcare among the female headed households.The study concluded that income significantly affects utilization of modern healthcare among female headed households when compared with their male counterparts. It is therefore recommended that there should proper awareness of the benefit of using modern healthcare services in farming communities especially among the male headed households.