International Journal of Innovative Research and Development

Abstract

Utilization of public health care (PHC) facilities incorporates three major components including people, service and mode of transport linking them. The difference in components influencing the households’ utilization of PHC facilities varies across the world. This paper investigates the factors influencing urban variations of households’ utilization of public primary health care facilities. This study was carried out in Nakuru Town. The study adopted mixed method research that involved quantitative and qualitative approaches. These included: a descriptive cross-sectional household survey and a health facility evaluation survey. The results indicate that the major factors influencing households’ utilization of public PHC facilities were cost of healthcare services (79.25%), availability of drugs within the public health care facilities (70.5%) and distance to health facility (68.75%). This paper shows that households in Nakuru town utilize public primary health care facilities for their medical services based on the physical conditions, financial conditions, health status and socio-economic characteristics. The paper thus recommends for the County Government of Nakuru to increase the number of public PHCs, improve the supply of essential drugs and also to use mobile clinics to reach the underserved areas within the town.

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