Health Information Seeking Behaviour Among Students in the Federal University of Technology, Akure, Ondo State, Nigeria

Abstract

The study investigated the health information-seeking behaviour of students at the Federal University of Technology, Akure in Nigeria. Information resources exploited by university students to meet health information needs were also examined. The study made use of the descriptive survey design, randomly sampling respondents' opinions on reasons for seeking health information and factors that militate against the effective use of health information. Of 377 respondents, 239 (63.4%) of them were disposed to seeking information on physical fitness or exercise and cold or flu. Newspaper (283 or 75.1%) was identified as respondents' commonest source of health information. For university students, a major inhibitor of health information seeking outside the library is the high cost of accessing health information for personal use (318 or 84.4%). But within the library, the uncooperative attitude of library personnel (240 or 63.7%) was identified as respondents' major hindrance in accessing health information in the library. The study recommended adequate provision of health information resources for students' use and regular library personnel training to improve professional skills required for effective dissemination of health information, particularly to university students.