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Household Perceptions, Treatment Seeking Behaviour, and Health Outcomes for Buruli Ulcer Disease in Owerri, South-Eastern Nigeria

Received: 30 June 2022    Accepted: 2 August 2022    Published: 21 September 2022
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Abstract

This study aimed to identify and ascertain the participants' beliefs and the impact that this has on their health-seeking behaviors and expected health outcomes in Owerri, south-eastern Nigeria. For this investigation, a purposeful sample of 178 case-positive individuals who had received care or were receiving care at health centers in Imo State was taken. A qualitative, in-depth interview guide and a semi-structured questionnaire were both used to obtain the data. According to the data, 34.8% of the participants believed that Buruli ulcer sickness was a spiritual illness brought on by their enemies, while 17.97% said that poor cleanliness was to blame, 32.4% said that contaminated water was to blame, and 16.9% said that inflicted wounds were to blame. According to other findings, the first line of treatment is often a traditional herbal remedy (44.9%), but some people prefer self-medication (22.5%), including the use of ointments and pain relievers since they think it has been defined as a boil. According to the findings, most people seek care after being dissatisfied with both traditional medicine and self-medication and possibly after issues have developed. As a result, the views of what caused the illness affected health-seeking behavior, which in turn affected the results of therapy. A lot of information is required regarding the etiology and signs of the illness, as well as encouraging early attendance at the Health Center for treatment.

Published in American Journal of Nursing Science (Volume 11, Issue 5)
DOI 10.11648/j.ajns.20221105.12
Page(s) 123-133
Creative Commons

This is an Open Access article, distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/), which permits unrestricted use, distribution and reproduction in any medium or format, provided the original work is properly cited.

Copyright

Copyright © The Author(s), 2024. Published by Science Publishing Group

Keywords

Buruli Ulcer, Perceptions, Health Seeking Behaviours, Conventional Herbal Process, Imo State Nigeria

References
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Cite This Article
  • APA Style

    Nwachukwu Innocentia Ogechi, Onwuka Chigozie Divine, Ekeanyanwu Raphael Chukwuma. (2022). Household Perceptions, Treatment Seeking Behaviour, and Health Outcomes for Buruli Ulcer Disease in Owerri, South-Eastern Nigeria. American Journal of Nursing Science, 11(5), 123-133. https://doi.org/10.11648/j.ajns.20221105.12

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    ACS Style

    Nwachukwu Innocentia Ogechi; Onwuka Chigozie Divine; Ekeanyanwu Raphael Chukwuma. Household Perceptions, Treatment Seeking Behaviour, and Health Outcomes for Buruli Ulcer Disease in Owerri, South-Eastern Nigeria. Am. J. Nurs. Sci. 2022, 11(5), 123-133. doi: 10.11648/j.ajns.20221105.12

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    AMA Style

    Nwachukwu Innocentia Ogechi, Onwuka Chigozie Divine, Ekeanyanwu Raphael Chukwuma. Household Perceptions, Treatment Seeking Behaviour, and Health Outcomes for Buruli Ulcer Disease in Owerri, South-Eastern Nigeria. Am J Nurs Sci. 2022;11(5):123-133. doi: 10.11648/j.ajns.20221105.12

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  • @article{10.11648/j.ajns.20221105.12,
      author = {Nwachukwu Innocentia Ogechi and Onwuka Chigozie Divine and Ekeanyanwu Raphael Chukwuma},
      title = {Household Perceptions, Treatment Seeking Behaviour, and Health Outcomes for Buruli Ulcer Disease in Owerri, South-Eastern Nigeria},
      journal = {American Journal of Nursing Science},
      volume = {11},
      number = {5},
      pages = {123-133},
      doi = {10.11648/j.ajns.20221105.12},
      url = {https://doi.org/10.11648/j.ajns.20221105.12},
      eprint = {https://article.sciencepublishinggroup.com/pdf/10.11648.j.ajns.20221105.12},
      abstract = {This study aimed to identify and ascertain the participants' beliefs and the impact that this has on their health-seeking behaviors and expected health outcomes in Owerri, south-eastern Nigeria. For this investigation, a purposeful sample of 178 case-positive individuals who had received care or were receiving care at health centers in Imo State was taken. A qualitative, in-depth interview guide and a semi-structured questionnaire were both used to obtain the data. According to the data, 34.8% of the participants believed that Buruli ulcer sickness was a spiritual illness brought on by their enemies, while 17.97% said that poor cleanliness was to blame, 32.4% said that contaminated water was to blame, and 16.9% said that inflicted wounds were to blame. According to other findings, the first line of treatment is often a traditional herbal remedy (44.9%), but some people prefer self-medication (22.5%), including the use of ointments and pain relievers since they think it has been defined as a boil. According to the findings, most people seek care after being dissatisfied with both traditional medicine and self-medication and possibly after issues have developed. As a result, the views of what caused the illness affected health-seeking behavior, which in turn affected the results of therapy. A lot of information is required regarding the etiology and signs of the illness, as well as encouraging early attendance at the Health Center for treatment.},
     year = {2022}
    }
    

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    T1  - Household Perceptions, Treatment Seeking Behaviour, and Health Outcomes for Buruli Ulcer Disease in Owerri, South-Eastern Nigeria
    AU  - Nwachukwu Innocentia Ogechi
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    JO  - American Journal of Nursing Science
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    UR  - https://doi.org/10.11648/j.ajns.20221105.12
    AB  - This study aimed to identify and ascertain the participants' beliefs and the impact that this has on their health-seeking behaviors and expected health outcomes in Owerri, south-eastern Nigeria. For this investigation, a purposeful sample of 178 case-positive individuals who had received care or were receiving care at health centers in Imo State was taken. A qualitative, in-depth interview guide and a semi-structured questionnaire were both used to obtain the data. According to the data, 34.8% of the participants believed that Buruli ulcer sickness was a spiritual illness brought on by their enemies, while 17.97% said that poor cleanliness was to blame, 32.4% said that contaminated water was to blame, and 16.9% said that inflicted wounds were to blame. According to other findings, the first line of treatment is often a traditional herbal remedy (44.9%), but some people prefer self-medication (22.5%), including the use of ointments and pain relievers since they think it has been defined as a boil. According to the findings, most people seek care after being dissatisfied with both traditional medicine and self-medication and possibly after issues have developed. As a result, the views of what caused the illness affected health-seeking behavior, which in turn affected the results of therapy. A lot of information is required regarding the etiology and signs of the illness, as well as encouraging early attendance at the Health Center for treatment.
    VL  - 11
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Author Information
  • Department of Microbiology, Faculty of Biological Sciences, Imo State University, Owerri, Nigeria

  • Department of Animal and Environmental Biology, Faculty of Biological Sciences, Imo State University, Owerri, Nigeria

  • Department of Biochemistry, Faculty of Biological Sciences, Imo State University, Owerri, Nigeria

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