Journal of Public Health and Environmental Pollution

Abstract

Medical tourism is a process of attracting patients from one origin to destination which can offer medical services at prices considerably less than the patient‘s usual environment and normally combining an element of post-operative tourism (recovery) for the patient (Rowley 2008). Medical industry practitioners described medical tourism as the act of travelling to receive a healthcare treatment that is either less expensive or more accessible (Kim, Leong, Heob, Anderson, and Gaitz, 2009). However, this study viewed medical tourism from the domestic perspective and to bridge the gap between origin and destination. As it is that medical tourism attracts patient from various origin in search of medical services at various destinations, it is of great importance to consider the factors that motivate patronage on medical tourism. As a result of this, this study assesses the factors influencing patronage of medical tourism in Plateau State, Nigeria as it affects the economy. Plateau is the twelfth-largest state in Nigeria. Approximately in the centre of the country, it is geographically unique in Nigeria due to its boundaries of elevated hills surrounding the Jos Plateau its capital, and the entire plateau itself. The State is located in Nigeria’s middle belt, with an area of 26,899 square kilometres, the State has an estimated population of about three million people. It is located between latitude 08°24'N and longitude 008°32' and 010°38' east. The state is named after the picturesque Jos Plateau, a mountainous area in the north of the state with captivating rock formations. Bare rocks are scattered across the grasslands, which cover the plateau. The altitude ranges from around 1,200 metres (3,900 ft) to a peak of 1,829 metres (6,001 ft) above sea level in the Shere Hills range near Jos. Data were collected from primary source. Primary data collection was carried out through the use of structured questionnaire. A total number of 795 population were included from the case study area selected in the study, they were sampled using special sampling method to generate the most appropriate and statistically representative sample. This includes; 15 Patrons from secondary Health institutions,20 patrons each from: public and private Health institutions, primary health institutions, non-governmental health institutions and 700 beneficiaries. A sample size of 265 was used out of the 338 randomly sampled with the aid of Krejcie and Morgan’s table (1970); The study revealed three factors influencing patronage of medical tourism in the study area to be service related, economic, and facilities. These were further established by factor analysis result which combine service related/ economic factor as factor one with (28.5% variance explained and Eigen value of 5.625), Facility factor as factor two with (27.6% variance explained and Eigen value of 5.535), Service related factor as factor three with (13.7% variance explained and Eigen value of 2.888) and Economic factor as factor four with (8.2% variance explained and Eigen value of 1.654). The relevant authority in charge of health facilities in the study area would have to employ adequate manpower in-terms of doctors and other healthcare personnel across the public hospital, while also regulating the scale of charges of the registered private hospitals in the study area. There is need to improve upon the state of facilities and equipment in both public and private hospital in the study area and orient these towards meeting patrons' needs and wants for improved health care services. The study therefore came to a conclusion that the factors influencing patronage of medical tourism are service related, facilities and economic.