Title : Determinants of health seeking behaviour among men aged 15-59 years in South Africa
Abstract:
Health seeking behaviour plays an important role in healthcare systems and in achieving a healthy society. It influences actions such as disease prevention and treatment outcomes in a population. Men are known to be scarce in health and possess limited knowledge about the health problems that affect them. However, there is limited knowledge about the underlying factors that influence care-seeking among men. This study aimed to establish the demographic, socio-economic, and health factors associated with health seeking behaviour among men aged 15 to 59 years old in South Africa, with a focus on Non-Communicable Disease (NCD) diagnosis as the main independent variable. The study employed a quantitative sample of 2083 men to cross-sectionally analyse the longitudinal National Income Dynamics Study Wave 5 Adult file. Anonymous data were analysed in R, using chi- squared tests and a binary logistic regression. Results from the multivariate binary logistic regression revealed that NCD diagnosis, age, race, self-rated health status, and religion are the factors statistically significant in determining health seeking behaviour. Among age groups 30-34 up to 54-59 years, there was a higher statistical significance associated with health seeking behaviour, calling for interventions related to NCD knowledge, testing, prevention, and treatment adherence among these age groups. Interventions are needed to improve timely health seeking behaviour among men in South Africa. Outreach programmes that meet men where they are (young boys in schools, men in their youth, and adult men), are important in the country to lower NCD risks and to encourage timely care seeking.
