Factors affecting routine medical screening among health workers in a tertiary hospital in Delta State

Routine medical screening usually involves periodic history taking, physical examination, and laboratory tests on a regular basis for asymptomatic individuals for continuing self-health care.

This study aimed to determine the knowledge, practice, and factors affecting practice of routine medical screening among health workers in Delta State University Teaching Hospital, Oghara.

The study population comprised all staff of the hospital. The sample size was determined using the Yamane formula; n = N/1 + N (e) = 295. A structured questionnaire was distributed among the various staff of the hospital that consented to participate in the study by agreeing to complete the questionnaire. Permission for the study was obtained from Ethics committee of the hospital. Data analysis was by SPSS version 22 (IBM).

About 297 participants completed their questionnaires. Female respondents (53.20%) participated more than males (46.80%). Nurses made up 25.5%, 18.8% were doctors, and 16.4% were administrative staff. Among the respondents, knowledge score was good in 58.3%, fair in 25.1%, and poor in 25.1%. The perception score among the respondents was good in 187 and poor in 110. The main reasons for not doing routine medical screening in the last one year were attributed to cost of tests (36.4%). The main reasons for doing a medical test in the past one year were mainly because of illness (60.0%). The practice of routine medical screening score was good in (26.2%) and poor in (73.7%). There was statistically significant association between sex and practice of routine medical screening, females had better practice of routine medical screening compared to men, P = 0.004. The main factors that affected routine medical screening were sex, being managed for a medical condition, and cost of the medical screening.

The practice of routine medical screening by the health care workers in our region is poor despite the demonstration of a good knowledge. The major factors affecting uptake of routine medical screening were sex, history of being managed for a health condition, and financial constraint. Staff of the hospital should be better enlightened on the use and importance of the Contributory Health Scheme in routine medical screening.