Determinants of Health Status of Female Undergraduates of a University in North Central Nigeria

Background: Health status is an individual's relative level of wellness and illness, taking into account the presence of biological or physiological dysfunction, symptoms, and functional impairment. Demographic factors are socio-economic characteristics of a population expressed as educational status, economic status, cultural and religious background, age, gender, marital status, occupation, birth and death rates and family size. Demographic factors seem to have influenced the health status of female undergraduates in University of Ilorin resulting in various health problems, which ultimately have its toll on their academic performance. This study therefore examined demographic factors as determinants of health status of female undergraduates of University of Ilorin. Materials and Methods: Descriptive cross-sectional design was employed for this study. Multi-stage sampling techniques consisting of stratified, simple random, and systematic sampling techniques were used to select 200 respondents. At first, Faculties were selected by stratified sampling. Departments were selected by simple random sampling while students were selected by systematic random sampling technique. Self-administered semi-structured questionnaire validated by three experts in the Department of Health Promotion and Environmental Health Education was used for data collection. Data collected were analyzed using Statistical Package for Social Sciences (SPSS) version 20. Descriptive statistics were expressed as mean and standard deviation while frequency and percentage were expressed as proportion. Chi-square test was used to test the hypotheses at 0.05 significance level. Ethical approval was obtained from the Research and Ethics Committee (REC) of the University of Ilorin, Ilorin Nigeria.

Results: The mean age of respondents was 23.42±3.5 years. Socio-economic status, educational, cultural and religious background of parents were significant determinants of health status of female undergraduates.

Conclusion: Although, parents’ socio-economic, educational, cultural and religious background were significant determinant factors of health status of female undergraduates in the study area, it is recommended that healthy lifestyle practices and programs be included in school curriculum so as to improve the health status of female undergraduates. Government should also invest in strategic thinking, planning and programming to address the determinants of health in the long term and the risk reduction programs aimed at reduction of disease burden among female students.