Population Council, 16 Mafemi Crescent, Off Solomon Lar Way, Utako, Abuja, Nigeria.
BMC Health Serv Res. 2020 May 19;20(1):441. doi: 10.1186/s12913-020-05251-0.
In Nigeria, anecdotes abound that female clients, particularly within northern Nigeria, have gender-based preferences for frontline health workers (FLHWs) who provide healthcare services. This may adversely affect uptake of maternal newborn and child health services, especially at primary healthcare level in Nigeria, where a huge proportion of the Nigerian population and rural community members in particular, access healthcare services. This study explored female clients' gender preferences for frontline health workers who provide maternal, newborn and child healthcare (MNCH) services at primary healthcare level in Nigeria.
The study adopted a cross-sectional quantitative design with 256 female clients' exit interviews from selected primary health facilities within two States - Bauchi (northern Nigeria) and Cross-River (southern Nigeria). Data was collected using Personal Digital Assistants and data analysis was done using SPSS software. Descriptive analysis was carried out using percentage frequency distribution tables. Bivariate analysis was also carried out to examine possible relationships between key characteristic variables and the gender preferences of female clients involved in the study.
Out of 256 women who accessed maternal, newborn and child health services within the sampled health facilities, 44.1% stated preference for female FLHWs, 2.3% preferred male FLHWs while 53.5% were indifferent about the gender of the health worker. However only 26.6% of female clients were attended to by male FLHWs. Bivariate analysis suggests a relationship between a female client's health worker gender preference and her pregnancy status, the specific reason for which a female client visits a primary healthcare facility, a female client's location in Nigeria as well as the gender of the health worker(s) working within the primary healthcare facility which she visits to access maternal, newborn and child health services.
The study findings suggest that female clients at primary healthcare level in Nigeria possibly have gender preferences for the frontline health workers who provide services to them. There should be sustained advocacy and increased efforts at community engagement to promote the acceptability of healthcare services from male frontline health workers in order to have a significant impact on the uptake of MNCH services, particularly within northern Nigeria.
在尼日利亚，有很多传闻称，女性客户，特别是在尼日利亚北部，对提供医疗保健服务的一线卫生工作者（FLHW）有基于性别的偏好。这可能会对产妇、新生儿和儿童健康服务（MNCH）的接受度产生不利影响，尤其是在尼日利亚的初级保健水平上，那里有很大一部分尼日利亚人口，特别是农村社区成员，都在那里获得医疗保健服务。本研究探讨了女性客户对在尼日利亚初级保健水平上提供产妇、新生儿和儿童保健服务的一线卫生工作者的性别偏好。
本研究采用了横断面定量设计，对来自两个州（尼日利亚北部的包奇州和尼日利亚南部的克罗斯河州）选定的初级保健机构的 256 名女性客户进行了出院访谈。数据是使用个人数字助理收集的，数据分析是使用 SPSS 软件进行的。描述性分析是使用百分比频数分布表进行的。还进行了双变量分析，以检查参与研究的女性客户的关键特征变量与性别偏好之间可能存在的关系。
在抽样保健机构内接受产妇、新生儿和儿童健康服务的 256 名女性中，44.1%表示偏向女性 FLHW，2.3%偏向男性 FLHW，而 53.5%对卫生工作者的性别漠不关心。然而，只有 26.6%的女性客户由男性 FLHW 提供服务。双变量分析表明，女性客户的卫生工作者性别偏好与她的怀孕状况、女性客户就诊的具体原因、女性客户在尼日利亚的位置以及她就诊的初级保健机构内工作的卫生工作者的性别之间存在关系，以获得产妇、新生儿和儿童健康服务。
研究结果表明，尼日利亚初级保健水平的女性客户可能对为她们提供服务的一线卫生工作者有性别偏好。应该持续进行宣传，并加大社区参与力度，以促进接受男性一线卫生工作者提供的医疗保健服务，以便对产妇、新生儿和儿童健康服务的接受度产生重大影响，特别是在尼日利亚北部。
