Healthcare service-related predictors of male partner involvement in maternal and child health care in Rivers East Senatorial District of Rivers State

Abstract

Male partner involvement is critical in the effective management of maternal and child health services targeted at reducing threatening figures of maternal and child mortalities in Nigeria. This study, therefore, investigated the determinants of male partner involvement in maternal and child health care in Rivers East Senatorial District of Rivers State. The descriptive correlational research design was adopted with a population consisting of 109,235 married men in Rivers East Senatorial District. A sample size of 1,197 was selected using the multi-stage sampling procedure. Data were collected using questionnaire with a reliability coefficient of 0.84, and analyzed using mean and linear regression model at 0.05 alpha level. The result showed that a high negative relationship was found between male involvement in MCH and variables such as distance to healthcare facility (r = -0.95), waiting time (r = -0.97), and cost of care (r = -0.96), while positive relationship was found for attitude of healthcare workers (r = 0.98). The tested hypotheses revealed that, statistically significant relationship was found between male involvement and all the factors listed above both the ones with positive and negative relationship (p<0.05). It was concluded that, male involvement in maternal and child healthcare is determined by multiple factors. It was recommended among others that, health care providers should give priority attention to clients who attend clinic with their male partners and also make the environment comfortable for male partners to relax while waiting for their wives, thereby encouraging male partner involvement.