PREVALENCE, PERCEPTIONS, AND DETERMINANTS OF HERBAL MEDICINE USE AMONG PREGNANT WOMEN IN OYO EAST LOCAL GOVERNMENT AREA OYO STATE

TOPIC IS SUITABLE FOR:

1- Department of Public Health

2- Department of Nursing Science

3- Department of Community Health

TOPIC: PREVALENCE, PERCEPTIONS, AND DETERMINANTS OF HERBAL MEDICINE USE AMONG PREGNANT WOMEN IN OYO EAST LOCAL GOVERNMENT AREA OYO STATE

TABLE OF CONTENT
Abstract

CHAPTER ONE: INTRODUCTION

1.1: Background of the Study

1.2: Statement of the Problem

1.3: Aim (Broad Objective) and Specific Objectives of the Study

1.4: Research Questions

1.5: Significance of the Study

1.6: Scope of the Study

1.7: Definition of Operational Terms

CHAPTER TWO: LITERATURE REVIEW

2.1: Conceptual Review

2.2: Theoretical Framework

2.2: Empirical Review

CHAPTER THREE: RESEARCH METHODOLOGY

3.1: Description of Study Area

3.2: Research Design

3.3: Study and Target Population

3.4: Sample Size Determination

3.5: Sampling Technique

3.6: Inclusion and Exclusion Criteria

3.6.1 Inclusion Criteria

3.6.2 Exclusion Criteria

3.7: Instrument(s) for Data Collection

3.8: Validity of the Study Instrument(s)

3.9: Reliability of the Study Instrument(s)

3.10: Method of Data Collection

3.11: Method of Data Analysis

3.12: Ethical Considerations

CHAPTER FOUR: RESULTS AND DISCUSSION

4.1. Introduction

4.2. Presentation and Analysis of Data

4.2.2 Sociodemographic Characteristics

4.2.3 Analysis of the prevalence of herbal medicine use among pregnant women in Oyo East Local Government Area

4.2.4 Analysis of the Perceptions of Pregnant Women Toward the Use of Herbal Medicines During Pregnancy in Oyo East Local Government Area

4.2.5 Analysis of the Factors Influencing Herbal Medicine Use Among Pregnant Women

4.2.6 Analysis of Perceived Benefits and Risks of Herbal Medicine Use during Pregnancy

4.3: Discussion Of Findings

4.3.1 The Prevalence of Herbal Medicine Use among Pregnant Women

4.3.2 The Perceptions of Pregnant Women toward Herbal Medicine Use

4.3.3 The Factors Influencing Herbal Medicine Use

4.3.4 The Perceived Benefits and Risks of Herbal Medicine Use

4.4: Implications of the Findings

4.5: Limitations of the Study

CHAPTER FIVE: CONCLUSION AND RECOMMENDATIONS

5.1: Conclusion

5.2: Recommendations

5.3 Recommendations for further studies

REFERENCES

Appendix

ABSTRACT

This study examined the prevalence, perceptions, and determinants of herbal medicine use among pregnant women in Oyo East Local Government Area, Oyo State. The specific objectives were to determine the prevalence of herbal medicine use among pregnant women in Oyo East Local Government Area, explore pregnant women’s perceptions  toward the use of herbal medicines during pregnancy in Oyo East Local Government Area, identify the factors influencing the use of herbal medicines among pregnant women in Oyo East Local Government Area, and assess the perceived benefits and risks associated with herbal medicine use during pregnancy in Oyo East Local Government Area. The proposed study made use of a descriptive survey research design in which the sample population size was 500 pregnant women living in selected communities in Oyo East Local Government Area, Oyo State. The sample size of 211 has been established using Taro Yamane formula. A purposive and stratified sampling combination was adopted. A structured questionnaire was used as the tool of collecting information. The data collected were compiled and analyzed in descriptive statistics comprising frequency counts, percentages, mean, and standard deviation. The findings showed high prevalence of herbal medicines taken during pregnancy (62.6%) as well as high frequency of such intakes, 55.9%. There was also positive perception in that the mean scores of all the seven perception items recorded above the mean cutoff of 2.50 with the largest mean of 3.68 indicating strong agreement in the view that herbal medicine relieves symptoms of pregnancy. The influencing factors were significant with accessibility, affordability, and cultural beliefs being the dominant ones. Results of perceived benefits and risks were as follows: the respondents were aware of the benefit, including the costs as being reasonable and the symptom relief (mean = 3.71), but also saw risks in the form of possible side effects and causing harm to the fetus (mean = 3.42). Based on these results, the study recommends that health care providers should enhance information on safe maternal practice, the government should regulate the practice of the herbal therapies, and the herbalists should be incorporated as part of a supervised health care system to minimize the risks that are associated with the unregulated practice of the herbals.

Keywords: Herbal Medicine, Pregnancy, Prevalence, Perception, Influencing Factors.

CHAPTER ONE

INTRODUCTION (Preview)

1.1 Background of the Study

Construction industry is a sensitive industry, which helps in developing infrastructure and creating job opportunities, just to mention but a few, and benefiting the society. The factors globally that feed the construction works and determine the performance of the project and industry are technological development and transformation of the capital markets and standard of regulations (Pamidimukkala and Kermanshachi, 2021). The last several years were showing the world things that we have never heard of as far as the health situation is concerned, where the COVID -19 pandemic is one of the most challenging problems to adjust to the modifications in the industrial activity with the necessity to take adaptive measures to guarantee productivity. The pandemic caused by SARS CoV 2 caused governments to adopt stringent measures to reduce its spread in all regions of the world and this indirectly affected the schedule of the projects, allocation of resources and operations (Mogaji, 2020). These international disequilibriumes are used to explain the presence of interdependences between the interventions in the sphere of the state of health of the population and the output performance of the sector, which depends on the necessity to consider the contextual impacts on the critical industries.

COVID 19 regulations refer to the measures that governments and organisations have put in place to prevent the spread of viruses and the protection of the workforce. These included PPE, social distancing, sanitation and number of people on the site (Bukhari et al., 2024). Though the primary goal of these regulations was to ensure health, they inevitably affected the construction process, especially labour force, supply of materials, and control of the site. The construction companies had to weigh what must be in situ to keep the activity running and often needed to re-plan the project and re-estimate the cost management process (Ogunnusi et al., 2021). The response to these regulations proves the dynamic nature of the compliance regulating and project practice behavior, i.e. the problems in ensuring the continuation of the functioning of the operation within the new externally determined conditions.

Setting the realised project outcomes in contrast to the projected project purposes is part of the construction project performance and involves components of costs, time, scope and quality (Obayelu et al., 2021). We can say that the pandemic was reflected in the delays, lack of employees, and materials that led to the inability to meet the deadlines on projects (Ikechukwu and Odimegwu, 2021). Moreover, to overcome the upheavals, organisations had to adopt remote coordination strategies like digital project management solutions and virtual supervision. Those adjustments all imply that the performance test was adjusted when you added flexibility, endurance, and sensibility to the traditional characteristics to the external shocks (Pamidimukkala and Kermanshachi, 2021). This extended definition is prominent in defining the consequences of constructing at a period of calamity on the planet.

The quality performance in construction projects is merely a term to fulfill some level of purpose to demonstrate how far a construction project that has been completed is capable of addressing the needs and regulatory specifications and standards that are developed (Ejekozien and Aigbavboa, 2021). Under the pandemic conditions, it was impossible to guarantee the quality because of a lack of working force, insufficient availability of supplies, and changes in the working process (Zaccheus et al., 2022). Regardless of these challenges, the corporations that implemented new monitoring and digital inspections and improved communication systems in their internal processes were able to achieve the required quality. The transformation of the work caused by the pandemic, the quality assurance, shows that the sector is quite vulnerable to external shocks and that the flexibility of the quality assurance of the projects is relevant.

The dependency between the quality performance of the construction project and the policy of COVID 19 is a trade off. The standard quality management method i.e. a physical visit to a location and corresponding communication with the stakeholders is limited by the legislation that is so significant to well-being of the staff and sustainability of the project (Ogunnusi et al., 2021). The consequence of reduced direct work on the ground and reduced number of workers on site can have an inadvertent impact on quality compliance and new methods to check and test have to be established. Based on this, there is no need to exclude the fact that the inclusion of health standards and quality assurance models will help to increase the project delivery resilience and compliance with performance and safety standards (Bukhari et al., 2024).

Lack of technological infrastructure and scarcity of resources, as well as, scarcity of skilled labour is a contextual challenge to the construction industry in Adamawa State, Nigeria. The other issue that made the project management complex, and had to change to protect the quality of the performance, was the effect of the COVID-19 guidelines on the projects under development and implementation (Ikechukwu and Odimegwu, 2021). It is only the relations between these regulations and quality of projects used in this regional context that allows knowing about the localised effects; that is why the possibility of flexibility of strategies and creative solutions is so much needed. The situation with Adamawa State may be seen as an indication of the need to balance construction quality with health compliance in the new economies.

1.2 Statement of the Problem

The COVID 19 pandemic has posed a greater than ever before, challenge in many sectors that have compelled governments in different parts of the world to put stringent regulatory measures in place to curb the spread of the virus. This has brought dire effects to the economic sector like the construction sector, but is needed in the interest of the people (Pamidimukkala and Kermanshachi, 2021). Cost of the project, time of the project and performance of the project are the major factors that determine the construction projects reviewed on international basis, as far as best quality of the project is considered which plays the most important role in fulfilling the customer and the infrastructural demands (Obayelu et al., 2021). In the absence of an emergency, construction projects must be undertaken in an efficient way that will not result in setbacks of schedules and budgets (Ikechukwu and Odimegwu, 2021). However, the immediate appearance of COVID-19 regulations impacted the usual operating activities of the construction sector and created a sense of uncertainty regarding whether the industry could achieve quality performance under circumstances of limited conditions.

The adoption of the COVID 19 protocol, social distancing, limited access and use of personal protection equipment and equipment have transformed the normal conduct of construction (Bukhari et al., 2024). The quality control measures are related to the newness of the work, the poor performance of the workers, and the slippage of the schedule (Ogunnusi et al., 2021). Although several studies are already carried out within the context of the effects of pandemic on the schedule and budget of a project, little empirical data is provided on the specific influence of these types of regulations on the quality performance of a construction project, including in the context of Adamawa State (Zaccheus et al., 2022). This evidence gap deprives practitioners of the chance to provide evidence-based strategies to be integrated with regulations and project quality compliance standards.

It is even more evident in Adamawa State where infrastructure development is the foundation of economic development and implementation of projects is often affected by infrastructure and technical constraints (Mogaji, 2020). In the absence of appropriate means to integrate COVID-19 as a control and quality assuring factor, projects are prone to fail to perform up to performance standards (Ebekozien and Aigbavboa, 2021). To a great degree, the literature review is associated with the turmoil of the entire industry or country-centred research, once again, there is a tremendous gap in the knowledge of how locally introduced rules would affect the state of the construction quality in the state of the Nigerian states.

It implies that project managers lack situation-specific guidance on how they can mitigate the quality risks of a pandemic or any other crisis situation, and they will struggle to maintain the project standards at an inter-regulatory level at a time when regulatory pressure is as high as it has never been. Thus the proposed study is will  address the gap by analysing the effects of covid-19 pandemic regulations on construction project quality performance in Adamawa State.

1.3 Aim and Objectives

The aim of the research is to examine the effects of the covid-19 regulations on construction projects performance in Yola, Adamawa State-Nigeria; therefore the  research will include with the view to improve the following research objectives

i.To investigate on the extent of disruption of construction project quality performance caused  by Covid-19 pandemic in Yola.

ii.To identify the challenges caused by Covid-19 pandemic regulations on  construction industry in Yola.

iii.To determined the effect of Covid-19 regulations on construction industry in the study area

iv.To determine the relationship between Covid-19 regulations and construction  Projects performance in Yola.

OTHER PARTS OF CHAPTER ONE INCLUDE:

1.4  Research Questions

1.5  Significance of the Study

1.6  Scope of the study

1.7 Concept areas

CHAPTER TWO

REVIEW OF RELATED LITERATURE (Preview)

This chapter critically examines relevant literature that would assist in explaining the research problem and, furthermore, recognizes the efforts of scholars who had previously contributed immensely to similar research. The chapter intends to deepen the understanding of the study and close the perceived gaps. This chapter, therefore, focuses on the concept of herbal medicine, the concept of herbal medicine use during pregnancy, prevalence of herbal medicine use among pregnant women, perceptions of pregnant women towards herbal medicine, determinants of herbal medicine use during pregnancy, and the perceived benefits and risks associated with herbal medicine use. The chapter covers the following subheadings:

2.1 Conceptual Framework

2.2 Theoretical Framework

2.3 Empirical Review

2.4 Summary of Literature Review

CHAPTER THREE

RESEARCH METHODOLOGY (Preview)

Research Design: The study adopted a descriptive survey research design.

Population of the Study: The population of the study comprises approximately 500 pregnant women living in selected communities in Oyo East Local Government Area, Oyo State.

Sample Size Determination: The study adopted the Taro Yamane formula to determine a sample size of 222 pregnant women.

Sampling Technique: The study employed a multistage sampling technique involving purposive sampling, proportionate stratified sampling, and simple random sampling to select the respondents.

Research Instrument: The study utilized a self-developed structured questionnaire as the instrument for data collection.

Methods of Data Analysis: The collected data were analyzed using frequencies, percentages, means, and standard deviations to summarize and present the demographic characteristics of the respondents and their responses. The data were analyzed using the Statistical Package for the Social Sciences (SPSS), and the results were presented in tables, charts, and graphs.

CHAPTER FOUR: DATA PRESENTATION AND ANALYSIS

MAJOR FINDINGS (Preview)

The analysis results were presented in tables. Based on the results obtained from the analysis, the following findings are made:

i. The study found that the prevalence of herbal medicine use among pregnant women in Oyo East Local Government Area, Oyo State, is high, as evidenced by 61.1% of respondents who reported using herbal medicines during pregnancy, while 45.0% reported a high frequency of use. Furthermore, 58.8% of respondents perceived herbal medicine use among pregnant women in their community as high, while 55.9% believed herbal medicines were more commonly used than hospital drugs.

ii. The study found that pregnant women in Oyo East Local Government Area generally had positive perceptions toward herbal medicine use during pregnancy, as evidenced by mean scores ranging from 2.78 to 3.84, which are above the acceptance benchmark of 2.50. The perception that herbal medicines are affordable and accessible compared to orthodox care recorded the highest mean of 3.84, followed by the perception that herbal medicines are effective in relieving pregnancy-related symptoms with a mean of 3.74. However, respondents also acknowledged potential risks to the mother and child, with a mean of 2.78.

iii. The study found that accessibility, affordability, cultural beliefs, and perceived effectiveness were major factors influencing herbal medicine use among pregnant women in Oyo East Local Government Area, as evidenced by mean scores ranging from 3.08 to 3.83, all above the acceptance benchmark of 2.50. Easy accessibility of herbal medicines in the community recorded the highest mean of 3.83, followed by affordability compared to orthodox healthcare with a mean of 3.72 and cultural beliefs and traditions with a mean of 3.53. Lack of awareness about risks recorded the lowest mean of 3.08, indicating that several social, economic, and cultural factors influence the use of herbal medicines during pregnancy.

iv. The study found that pregnant women perceived both benefits and risks associated with herbal medicine use during pregnancy in Oyo East Local Government Area, as evidenced by mean scores ranging from 2.95 to 3.72, which are above the acceptance benchmark of 2.50. Affordability compared to hospital treatment recorded the highest mean of 3.72, followed by relief of common pregnancy symptoms with a mean of 3.70 and cultural trust and acceptance with a mean of 3.58. However, respondents also acknowledged that excessive use could cause harmful side effects, with a mean of 3.22, pose risks to the unborn child, with a mean of 3.05, and lead to complications during delivery, with a mean of 2.95.

CHAPTER FIVE: SUMMARY, RECOMMENDATIONS AND CONCLUSIONS

This chapter covers the following outline:

5.1: Conclusion

5.2: Recommendations

5.3 Recommendations for further studies

REFERENCES

APPENDIX

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