Health Seeking Behavior among the Elderly in Edo Central Nigeria

The goal of this study was to explore the health seeking behavior of the elderly in Edo Central Nigeria. It focused on the most common health related problems of the elderly;revealedwhere the elderly goes to seek medical care when sick; and those financially responsible for his/her medical needs. Five hundred and forty elderly persons were selected by systematic random sampling and a total of 514 subjects aged 65 years and above completed the face to face interview administered with a questionnaire. Majority of the elderly persons (62.7%) had age associated illnesses such as blood pressure, cardiac problems, diabetes, joint pains, kidney infections, cancer and tuberculosis that take a long time to heal. Precisely 73.7% of the elderly patronized the hospital/health centers whenever they fell sick. More elderly males than their female counterparts were found to have patronized traditional healers, resorted to selfmedication using local herbs or visited chemists’ shops whenever they were sick. It is recommended that elderly people should be provided free, accessible and comprehensive health care in hospitals and health centers because they would utilize the health services when available, accessible and affordable.