The Influence Of Illness Representation On Psychological Distress And Health Seeking Behaviour In Ghana: A Rural - Urban Study

Abstract

The purpose of this study was to determine the impact of illness representation on psychological distress and health seeking behavior, as well as to comprehend the interpretation of illness, particularly COVID-19, in the Ghanaian population. A mixed method design was used, and 240 participants were purposively sampled for the quantitative aspect while 32 participants were interviewed for the qualitative aspect of the study. Participants were drawn from selected rural and urban communities in Ghana. Quantitative data for the study was gathered using the General Help Seeking Questionnaire, the Brief Illness Perception Questionnaire, the Kessler 10, and semi structured interviews for the qualitative study. Hierarchical analysis of the quantitative data revealed that illness representation and age significantly predicted health seeking behavior. Illness representation had no effect on psychological distress, however, gender significantly predicted psychological distress. According to the one-way ANOVA analysis, there was no significant difference in illness representation between participants from rural and urban communities. The findings of the interviews supported this finding, as there were no significant differences in illness representations of COVID-19 in the selected communities. Findings of the qualitative study unearthed themes such as the pluralistic views about illness, knowledge about COVID-19, general views about COVID-19, emotional reactions towards COVID-19 and barriers to health seeking. These findings have implications for research into health choices and practices, as well as policy development.