Factors Influencing the Healthcare-seeking Decisions of Diabetic Patients in Ghana

Background: Diabetes is a persistent and progressive chronic illness that might result in permanent consequences or mortality. The significant worry in Ghana lies in the responsibility of managing the complications and mortality rates associated with diabetic patients. Timely identification and medical intervention can alleviate this burden. There is a significant number of individuals who have diabetes but are unaware of their condition and only seek medical assistance once they have developed numerous long-term issues. Within the population of individuals who have already been diagnosed with diabetes mellitus, there exists a proportion of individuals who are not currently receiving treatment. This group includes individuals who have never started therapy as well as those who have discontinued their medication. This study aimed to investigate the factors linked to the health seeking decisions of diabetic patients in Ghana.

Methods: The research was a cross-sectional survey. It adopted stratified sampling technique to select 201 respondents. A questionnaire was used in the study for data collection. The data was analysed using the SPSS version 22.

Results: The study findings indicated that 89% of individuals with diabetes were identified by a healthcare professional, however only 67% of the patients actively sought medical care. The study revealed that factors such as obtaining a secondary education or higher, having a higher wage, receiving a diagnosis from a healthcare professional, and being employed have a substantial impact on the choice to seek professional healthcare. Receiving a diagnosis from a healthcare professional was discovered to have the most significant favourable correlation with seeking professional medical assistance.

Conclusions: The study finds that in Ghana, the health seeking behaviour of diabetic patients is influenced by characteristics such as education, income, the type of consultant who diagnosed the disease, and the job situation of the patients.