The aim of the study was to investigate university students' use of the Internet for health purpose in the Ghanaian context. The study employed a quantitative cross-sectional design. A total of 650 out of 740 students selected from 3 different universities participated, giving a response rate of 87.7% (650/740). Data were obtained using questionnaires and frequency and percentages were used to analyze data. The results show that university students are active users of the Internet as 78.3% (509/650) used Internet daily and 67.7% (440/650) use Internet for health purposes, for reasons including availability and ease of accessing information, privacy, confidentiality, and affordability. Use of Internet was constrained by unreliable and slow connection, high cost of Internet, and unreliable power supply. Also, 72.4% (315/435) used the online health information obtained as a basis for lifestyle change and only 39.5% (170/430) consulted health professionals after obtaining online information. The study concludes that students use Internet to seek online health support. The use of Internet to communicate with young people in relation to their health must therefore be explored. There is the need to be aware of online safety issues for young adults, including the need to provide information on privacy options.
Purpose-The purpose of this paper was to examine rural women's perceived quality of antenatal care (ANC) and its influence on the extent of ANC in the Amansie Central District in the Ashanti Region of Ghana. Design/methodology/approach-A quantitative cross-sectional study was conducted with 120 women attending postnatal care at selected public health facilities. Structured interviews were used to obtain data. Crude odds ratio with 95% confidence interval (CI) was generated to determine the odds of women's utilisation of ANC with their perceived service quality. The association between women's background characteristics and ANC use was determined and assessed using Pearson's χ 2 (2) test. Findings-Majority of the women (58.3 percent) utilised ANC for at least four times during pregnancy. Women's education (p ¼ 0.027), religious affiliation (p ¼ 0.006), source of income (p ¼ 0.012) and insurance status (p ¼ 0.023) all had a positive relationship with ANC use. Women who perceived ANC quality as good were three times more likely to have four or more ANC visits than those who perceived quality as poor (OR ¼ 3.042, 95% CI ¼ 0.181-0.647, p ¼ 0.001). Originality/value-Ghana has had numerous policy interventions that address the accessibility and quality of ANC service. However, little is known about the extent to which they are observed and about the quality of service from users' perspective. Most existing literature on ANC use in Ghana focusses on socioeconomic factors that influence utilisation. This paper will be the first to examine the perceived quality of ANC provided, and its influence on the extent of ANC visits among rural women in Ghana.
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