Health needs and health seeking behaviour of Internally Displaced Persons in Dalori camp, Maiduguri, Borno State, Nigeria

Objectives: In recent years, thousands of people have been displaced due to conflict and have been forced to live in crowded camps. The study assessed the common health problems, health needs and healthseeking behaviours of internally displaced persons in Nigeria.Methods: A cross-sectional descriptive design was used to study 240 randomly selected respondents using an interviewer-administered semi-structured questionnaire. Data collected were analysed using descriptive and inferential statistical techniques.Results: The prevalence of communicable disease outbreak was 59.2% and common health problems of the IDPs were malaria (97.9%), cold and catarrh (65.8%), heart diseases (56.7%), and diarrhoea (53.3%). Findings also revealed that access of IDPs to potable water, insecticide-treated nets (ITN), blankets and health care facility, as well as waste disposal, were generally poor. A large proportion of the respondents reported overcrowding (45.8%), inconducive housing (94.6%), dirty environment (54.6%) and poor food distribution (90%) in the camp. Furthermore, factors that predicted poor health among the IDPs include: educational status (OR: 0.397, p = 0.010), poor water supply (OR: 0.343, p = 0.006), hand washing (OR: 7.064, p = 0.004), and overcrowding (OR: 0.055, p = 0.001).Conclusion: This study concluded that ccommon health problems among the IDPs were malaria, cold and catarrh, heart diseases and diarrhoea and their health needs include lack of access to potable water and inadequate health care services.Keywords: Health-seeking behaviour , Health – need, Internally Displaced Persons, Nigeri