Knowledge, Attitudes, and Perception of Uptake of Preventive Healthcare Services among Health Workers and Rural Residents in Benue State, Nigeria

Preventive healthcare services are a critical component, utilized to improve the health outcomes of population. This study assessed the knowledge, attitudes, and perception of uptake of preventive healthcare services among health workers and rural residents in Benue State, Nigeria. The study adopted a descriptive survey design and a positivist research paradigm. The study adopted a multistage sampling technique from rural communities and primary healthcare centres in the state. A structured questionnaire was used to collect data, from 411 respondents. The data obtained were analyzed using the Statistical Package for the Social Sciences (SPSS) version 23.0. Descriptive statistics such as frequencies, percentages, and means were used to answer the research questions, while Pearson’s correlation coefficient was used to test the hypotheses at the 0.05 level of significance. Results of the study showed that respondents demonstrated a relatively high level of awareness and good knowledge of preventive healthcare services, with counselling services, cholesterol testing, and routine vaccinations being the most recognized. The findings further revealed that respondents exhibited a generally positive attitude toward preventive healthcare services, as indicated by a cluster mean above the decision benchmark. However, despite this positive disposition, the uptake of preventive healthcare services was only moderately high. The study also established that knowledge and attitude had a weak but statistically significant positive relationship with the uptake of preventive healthcare services. Based on the findings of the study, it was recommended that health authorities and community health workers should intensify health education campaigns to bridge the gap between knowledge and actual utilization of preventive services. Continuous training programmes should be implemented to strengthen the capacity of health workers in promoting preventive practices, while community-based strategies involving local leaders should be adopted to improve perception and encourage consistent uptake of preventive healthcare services among rural populations.

Knowledge, Attitudes, Perception, Preventive Healthcare, Services ,Health Workers

1. Abdulkadir, M. A., Jen, S. S., Abdulsalam, A. and Imam, L. N. (2021). Utilization of Preventive Health Care Services among Academic Staff in University of Maiduguri, Borno State, Nigeria. Isagoge – Journal of Humanities and Social Sciences, 1(1), 120-130. [Google Scholar] [Crossref]

2. Ahmed, A., Khan, H. T., & Lawal, M. (2025). The Prevalence, Pattern, and Burden of Multimorbidity Among Older Adults in Niger State, Northern Nigeria. Illness, Crisis & Loss, 33(3), 684-701. [Google Scholar] [Crossref]

3. Ajzen, I. (2020). The theory of planned behavior: Frequently asked questions. Human behavior and emerging technologies, 2(4), 314-324. [Google Scholar] [Crossref]

4. Akinyemi, P. A., Fajobi, O., Owoade, I. A., Elugbaju, O. T., & Wuraola, F. O. (2021). Community perception and determinants of willingness to uptake COVID-19 vaccines among residents of Osun State, South-West Nigeria. Int J Community Med Public Health, 8(4), 1551-57. [Google Scholar] [Crossref]

5. Ali, I. M. (2024). A guide for positivist research paradigm: From philosophy to methodology. Idealogy Journal, 9(2). [Google Scholar] [Crossref]

6. Asuke, S., Babatunde, J. M., & Ibrahim, M. S. (2017). A comparative analysis of the awareness and practice of periodic health examination among workers of public and private establishments in Zaria, Northwestern Nigeria. Archives of Medicine and Surgery, 2(2), 38. [Google Scholar] [Crossref]

7. Awiti, J. O. (2014). Poverty and health care demand in Kenya. BMC health services research, 14, 1-17. [Google Scholar] [Crossref]

8. Belete, Z. W., Berihun, G., Keleb, A., Ademas, A., Berhanu, L., Abebe, M., ... & Adane, M. (2021). Knowledge, attitude, and preventive practices towards COVID-19 and associated factors among adult hospital visitors in South Gondar Zone Hospitals, Northwest Ethiopia. PLoS One, 16(5), e0250145. [Google Scholar] [Crossref]

9. Bhattacharya, L. K., Gerbie, M. V., & Tan, T. Q. (2013). Knowledge and utilization of recommended preventative vaccines among young adults. J. Vaccines Vaccin, 4, 1000179. [Google Scholar] [Crossref]

10. Brisibe, S. F., Ordinioha, B., & Gbeneol, P. K. (2014). Knowledge, Attitude and Use of Clinical Preventive Services among Patients Attending the General Out-patient Clinic of a Tertiary Hospital in South-south Nigeria. Journal of Preventive Medicine, 2(1), 5-9. [Google Scholar] [Crossref]

11. Bulliard, J. L., & Chiolero, A. (2015). Screening and overdiagnosis: public health implications. Public health reviews, 36, 1-5. [Google Scholar] [Crossref]

12. Chakraborty, N., Islam, M.A., Chowdhury, R.I., Bari, W. and Akhter, H.H. (2003). Determinants of the use of maternal health services in rural Bangladesh. Health Promotion International, 18(4):32-37. [Google Scholar] [Crossref]

13. Cohen, J. T., Neumann, P. J., & Weinstein, M. C. (2008). Does preventive care save money? Health economics and the presidential candidates. New England Journal of Medicine, 358(7), 661-663. [Google Scholar] [Crossref]

14. Conner, M. (2020). Theory of planned behavior. Handbook of sport psychology, 1-18. [Google Scholar] [Crossref]

15. Elangovan, N., & Sundaravel, E. (2021). Method of preparing a document for survey instrument validation by experts. MethodsX, 8, 101326. [Google Scholar] [Crossref]

16. Emmanuel, H., & Ekoja, I. I. (2020). State of health information dissemination for disease control among rural dwellers in Okpokwu Local Government Area of Benue State, Nigeria. International Journal of Research in Library and Information Science, 6(2), 37-47. [Google Scholar] [Crossref]

17. Faronbi, J. O., Ajadi, A. O., & Gobbens, R. J. (2020). Associations of chronic illnesses and socio-demographic factors with health-related quality of life of older adults in Nigeria: A cross-sectional study. Ghana medical journal, 54(3), 164. [Google Scholar] [Crossref]

18. Fufaa, G. D. (2024). The Role of Preventive Health Care in Preventing Chronic Diseases. [Google Scholar] [Crossref]

19. Gannon, M. J., Taheri, B., & Azer, J. (2022). Contemporary research paradigms and philosophies. In Contemporary research methods in hospitality and tourism (pp. 5-19). Emerald Publishing Limited. [Google Scholar] [Crossref]

20. Idris, I. O., Oguntade, A. S., Mensah, E. A., & Kitamura, N. (2020). Prevalence of non-communicable diseases and its risk factors among Ijegun-Isheri Osun residents in Lagos State, Nigeria: a community based cross-sectional study. BMC Public Health, 20(1), 1258. [Google Scholar] [Crossref]

21. Iorver, T. R. (2020). Assessment of utilization of health information resources by diabetic patients in Benue State Nigeria. Library Philosophy and Practice (e-journal). 43:90. [Google Scholar] [Crossref]

22. Jenewari, J. A., and Tolulope, O. A. (2025). Prevalence and Determinants of Non-Communicable Diseases Risk Factors Among In-School Adolescents in Rural and Urban Areas of Adamawa State. Texila International Journal of Academic Research, ISSN: 2520-3088. [Google Scholar] [Crossref]

23. Jones, R. (2003). Making health information accessible to patients. In Aslib proceedings (Vol. 55, No. 5/6, pp. 334-338). MCB UP Ltd. [Google Scholar] [Crossref]

24. Kania, N., Kusumah, Y. S., Dahlan, J. A., Nurlaelah, E., Gürbüz, F., & Bonyah, E. (2024). Constructing and providing content validity evidence through the Aiken's Vindex based on the experts' judgments of the instrument to measuremathematical problem-solving skills. REID (Research and Evaluation in Education), 10(1), 5. [Google Scholar] [Crossref]

25. La Barbera, F., & Ajzen, I. (2020). Control interactions in the theory of planned behavior: Rethinking the role of subjective norm. Europe's Journal of Psychology, 16(3), 401. [Google Scholar] [Crossref]

26. Liu, X., Li, N., Liu, C., Ren, X., Liu, D., Gao, B., & Liu, Y. (2016). Urban–rural disparity in utilization of preventive care services in China. Medicine, 95(37), e4783. [Google Scholar] [Crossref]

27. Maciosek, M. V., Coffield, A. B., Flottemesch, T. J., Edwards, N. M., & Solberg, L. I. (2010). Greater use of preventive services in US health care could save lives at little or no cost. Health Affairs, 29(9), 1656-1660. [Google Scholar] [Crossref]

28. Manzoor, I., Hashmi, N.R. and Mukhtar, F. (2009). Determinants and pattern of health care services utilisation in post graduate students. Journal of Ayub Medical College Abbottabad, 21(3):5-25 [Google Scholar] [Crossref]

29. Mokdad, A. H., Marks, J. S., Stroup, D. F., & Gerberding, J. L. (2004). Actual causes of death in the United States, 2000. Jama, 291(10), 1238-1245. [Google Scholar] [Crossref]

30. Moore, C. G., Carter, R. E., Nietert, P. J., & Stewart, P. W. (2011). Recommendations for planning pilot studies in clinical and translational research. Clinical and translational science, 4(5), 332-337. [Google Scholar] [Crossref]

31. Muasya, J. N., & Mulwa, P. M. (2023). Pilot Study, a Neglected Part of Qualitative and Quantitative Research Process: Evidence from Selected PhD Thesis and Dissertations. Higher Education Research, 8(4), 115-123. [Google Scholar] [Crossref]

32. National Centre for Health Statistics, (2002). Joint Canada/ United States Survey of Health, Available at http://www.cdc.gov/nchs/date/nhis/jcush-andyhcdreport.pdf. [Google Scholar] [Crossref]

33. Obi, I. R., Obi, K. M., Seer-Uke, E. N., Onuorah, S. I., & Okafor, N. P. (2021). Preventive health care services utilization and its associated factors among older adults in rural communities in Anambra State, Nigeria. Pan African Medical Journal, 39(1). [Google Scholar] [Crossref]

34. Ofoli, J. N., Ashau-Oladipo, T., Hati, S. S., Ati, L., & Ede, V. (2020). Preventive healthcare uptake in private hospitals in Nigeria: a cross-sectional survey (Nisa premier hospital). BMC Health Services Research, 20, 1-10. [Google Scholar] [Crossref]

35. Onah, H.E., Ikeako, L.C. and Iloabachie, G.C. (2006). Factors associated with the use of maternity services in Enugu, southeastern Nigeria. Social science and medicine, 63(7):18- 70. [Google Scholar] [Crossref]

36. Park, H. (2021). Reliability using Cronbach alpha in sample survey. The Korean Journal of Applied Statistics, 34(1), 1-8. [Google Scholar] [Crossref]

37. Pretorius, L. (2024). Demystifying research paradigms: Navigating ontology, epistemology, and axiology in research. The Qualitative Report, 29(10), 2698-2715. [Google Scholar] [Crossref]

38. Schroder, C., Medves, J., Paterson, M., Byrnes, V., Chapman, C., O'Riordan, A., & Kelly, C. (2011). Development and pilot testing of the collaborative practice assessment tool. Journal of interprofessional care, 25(3), 189-195. [Google Scholar] [Crossref]

39. Taber, K. S. (2018). The use of Cronbach’s alpha when developing and reporting research instruments in science education. Research in science education, 48, 1273-1296. [Google Scholar] [Crossref]

40. Thomas-MacLean, R., Tarlier, D., Ackroyd-Stolarz, S., Fortin, M., & Stewart, M. (2014). No cookie-cutter response: conceptualizing primary health care. London, Canada: West-ern University. [Google Scholar] [Crossref]

41. Thrul, J., Bühler, A., & Herth, F. J. (2014). Prevention of teenage smoking through negative information giving, a cluster randomized controlled trial. Drugs: Education, Prevention and Policy, 21(1), 35-42. [Google Scholar] [Crossref]

42. Titus, O.B., Adebisola, O.A. and Adeniji, A.O. (2015). Health-care access and utilization among rural households in Nigeria. Journal of Development and Agricultural Economics, 7(5):195-203. [Google Scholar] [Crossref]

43. Vaidya, V., Partha, G., & Howe, J. (2011). Utilization of preventive care services and their effect on cardiovascular outcomes in the United States. Risk Management and Healthcare Policy, 1-7. [Google Scholar] [Crossref]

44. World Health Organization (WHO), (2017). Health impact assessment (HIA), determinants of health. Geneva, Switzerland: WHO. Available online at: http://www.who.int/hia/evidence/doh/en. [Google Scholar] [Crossref]

45. World Health Organization (WHO), (2020). The Top 10 Causes of Death. https://www.who.int/news-room/fact-sheets/detail/the-top-10-causes-of-death. [Google Scholar] [Crossref]

46. Zolait, A. H. S. (2014). The nature and components of perceived behavioural control as an element of theory of planned behaviour. Behaviour & Information Technology, 33(1), 65-85. [Google Scholar] [Crossref]

• Tribal Child Nutrition and Health in District of Sundargarh: A Public Health Review of ICDS Intervention
• Knowledge, Attitudes and Practices Towards Prostate Cancer Screening Amongst Men Aged 40-60 Years in The Buea Health District: A Cross-Sectional Study
• Compliance with JCI Protocols: A Focus on Employee Safety
• Influence and Involvement of Teachers in Menstrual Hygiene Management of Female Secondary School Students in Kogi State, Nigeria
• A Critical Evaluation of Ayushman Bharat Pradhan Mantri Jan Arogya Yojana in Bihar