Perception, Utilization,

Background: Undergraduate students are the upcoming workforce of any country and their health is essentially linked to the social and economic development of the country. Health- seeking behaviour and health outcomes are shaped by socio-cultural beliefs, accessibility, cost and perceived quality of available health services and these affect health outcomes and indices. This study aimed at assessing the perception of, satisfaction with, major barriers to utilization, major health conditions prompting utilization of on-campus health services and factors influencing use of alternative sources of healthcare. Methods: The study was a descriptive cross-sectional study carried out among undergraduate students of University of Benin, Benin, Edo State, Nigeria. A sample size of 430 was obtained, and a multistage sampling technique was used to select respondents. A self-administered questionnaire was used to collect the data for the study after pretesting. Data was analysed using the Statistical Package for Social Sciences (SPSS) version 25 and the level of statistical significance was set at p<0.05. Results: The mean age of respondents was 23.0 ± 3.2 years. A higher proportion, 52.8% were male, Christians (58.1%) and single (67.7%). Out of 430 respondents, 61.4% resided off-campus, 52.6% received a monthly allowance of between 50,001 to 100,000 naira and 73.5% received support from their parents. From the responses, 41.4% had received care at the health center in the past year and were most commonly by joint pain (21.9%), fever (15.7%) and headaches (11.8%). Ninety-five percent and 99.0% had a good perception of health center and were satisfied with the services provided there respectively. Common barriers to seeking health care at the center were long waiting time (37.4%), out-of-pocket payments (17.9%). viii ix Conclusion: The study showed that there was a good perception of the health center and respondents were satisfied with services at the health center. Recommendations: The government should strengthen implementation of the Tertiary Institutions’ Social Health Insurance Programme (TISHIP) of the National Health Insurance Scheme(NHIS) at the health center, increase public-private partnership to reduce health cost and encourage local production of pharmaceuticals. The health center should improve awareness of service at the center, increase number of staff and strengthen existing programmes