Barriers faced by Ugandan university students in seeking medical care and sexual health counselling: a cross-sectional study

Abstract

BackgroundMeeting the medical and sexual health care needs of young people is crucial for sustainable development. In Uganda, youth are faced with a number of challenges related to accessing medical care and sexual health counselling services. This study sought to investigate the barriers faced by Ugandan university students in seeking medical care and sexual health counselling.MethodsThis study is part of a cross-sectional survey conducted in 2005 among 980 students at Mbarara University of Science and Technology. Data was collected by means of a self-administered 11-page questionnaire. The barriers encountered by respondents in seeking medical care and sexual health counselling were classified into three categories reflecting the acceptability, accessibility, or availability of services.ResultsTwo out of five students reported unmet medical care needs, and one out of five reported unmet sexual health counselling needs. Acceptability of services was the main barrier faced by students for seeking medical care (70.4%) as well as for student in need of sexual health counselling (72.2%), regardless of age, gender, self-rated health, and rural/peri-urban or urban residence status. However, barriers differed within the various strata. There was a significant difference (p-value 0.01) in barriers faced by students originally from rural versus peri-urban/urban areas in seeking medical care (acceptability: 64.8%/74.5%, accessibility: 22.0% /12.6%, availability 13.2%/12.9%, respectively). Students who reported poor self-rated health encountered barriers in seeking both medical care and sexual health counselling that were significantly different from their other counterparts (p-value 0.001 and 0.007 respectively).ConclusionsBarriers faced by students in seeking medical and sexual health care should be reduced by interventions aimed at boosting confidence in health care services, encouraging young people to seek early treatment, and increasing awareness of where they can turn for services. The availability of medical services should be increased and waiting times and cost reduced for vulnerable groups.

Barriers to healthcare seeking among medical students: a cross sectional study from South India

“…These are broadly congruent with published reports by researchers who have found acceptability and accessibility as the major barriers in using health services among non-medical university student populations 23. Hence we may surmise that medical students broadly share the same concerns as other university students about accessing health services.…”

Health Seeking Behaviour among Medical Students in a Teaching Hospital of Nepal: A Descriptive Cross-sectional Study

“…1,2 Adolescents and young people are usually thought of as a healthy group but they tend to have various health problems like depression, stress, anxiety and reproductive health problems which are often hidden or under diagnosed. [3][4][5] And young medical students are more prone to it but often found to do informal consultation [6][7][8][9][10] and practice self diagnosis and/ or self medication. [11][12][13] Health seeking behaviour not just affects the present but also determines the care seeking and care giving practice of medical students in the future.…”

Students’ Health Seeking Behaviour and its Rationale at Uganda Christian University

“…The age distribution was similar to the official age range for university students in Uganda. 9 There was, however, some variation regarding distribution by gender where the ratio of female to male was found to be 59:41 and yet in the UCU data centre, it is about 52:48. The sampling targeted a ratio of 52:48 (F: M) to reflect the sex distribution of students as in the data centre but the findings show that ISSN: 2520-3134 more females than males responded.…”

“…A structured pre-tested questionnaire with content adapted from other similar published studies was used (Boltena et al, 2012). It was a self-administered questionnaire where most questions were closed.…”