Abstract
BACKGROUND AND AIMS: Understanding healthcare utilization during the coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) pandemic is crucial to inform policy and to prepare health systems for future pandemics. We examined self-reported healthcare utilization and associated factors, including public health preventive practices, perceptions, and coping strategies among the general public in Ghana during the first wave of the COVID-19 pandemic. METHODS: We adopted a cross-sectional study design using a public survey to recruit 643 respondents between May 23, and July 11, 2020 during the first wave of confirmed COVID-19 cases and after the fifth week of a partial lockdown in Ghana. Descriptive, bivariate, and binary logistic regression analyses were carried out in Stata version 15. RESULTS: Overall, there was a high level of compliance with COVID-19 public health preventive measures. In terms of perception, 357 (55.5%) of respondents stated unnecessary worry was created about the disease. In relation to coping strategies, 376 (58.5%) of respondents stayed home for more than 6 h, while 35 (5%) reported drinking alcohol to overcome the fear created by the disease. The results showed that 176 (27.4%) of the respondents utilized healthcare while 44 (9.4%) did not utilized healthcare for fear of contracting the disease at the health facility. Marital status (adjusted odds ratio [aOR] = 0.63; 95% confidence interval [CI] = 0.409, 0.963), religion (aOR = 2.34; 95% CI = 1.10, 4.98), and possession of valid health insurance (aOR = 1.51; 95% CI = 1.020, 2.235) were associated with healthcare utilization. CONCLUSION: There was low healthcare utilization coupled with fear of contracting the COVID-19 disease at the health facilities among the respondents. The findings suggest the need for effective public education that ensures that future pandemics' prevention information and recommendations are easily understandable by the general public. Additionally, investment in health insurance coverage may contribute to healthcare utilization during future pandemics.