Evaluation of the Social Determinants of Health in Communities across the South-Eastern Region of Nigeria

Özet

Objectives: Apart from lifestyles and genetic make-ups, a wide range of social, economic and environmentalfactors may affect personal and population health. Attaining sustainable health for all requires frequent evaluation and tackling these socio-economic and environmental factors.Methods: This cross-sectional study aimed to evaluate the existence of the World Health Organization’s (WHO)recognized social determinants health (SDH) in communities across south-east Nigeria. This study recruited214 leaders in the state ministry of health who were stakeholders in the commission on SDH that attended aconference in Onitsha. Participants were enrolled using a purposive sampling method. Data on parameters ofSDH in the communities were obtained on a scale of I to 5 using self-administered WHO-validated questionnaires for SDH.Results: The existence of SDH in communities across the South-Eastern region in Nigeria is poor. Only 9.5-13.0% and 4.2-7.2% of the respondents respectively reported with high and very high certainty the existenceof the parameters of SDH in their respective communities. Employment/job skills centers, police and security,legal aids, insurance policies and substance abuse help centers were the SDH parameters reported commonlyas non-existent in most communities. The majority of the respondents reported education 88 (14.1%), employment organizations 58 (9.3%), healthcare 52 (8.3%) and transportation 44 (7.1%) as the health determinant with the strongest presence and greatest impact on lives of community residents, while access to mentalhealth 24 (3.8%), substance abuse treatment 20 (3.2%), personal space 19 (3.0%), insurance 22 (3.5%) and parks18 (2.9%) for relaxation and leisure were reported as parameters with the weakest presence and least impacton health of community residents.Conclusion: Continued assessment of the SDH in addition to the evaluation of its effects on personal andpopulation health is imperative to deliver equitable healthcare and enhance the quality of life across communities in Nigeria.