Socio-economic and Cultural Background of Hospitalised Children in Ilesha.

Abstract

SUmmary: The parents or surrogates of 546 consecutive Paediatric admissions into the Wesley Guild Hospital, Ilesha, were questioned regarding the socio-economic and cultural backgrounds of the children. The majority of the parents were christian Ijesha Yorubas. Only 68.7% of the patients were in the custody of their two parents living together. Twenty-seven percent of the fathers and 34.6% of the mothers had no formal education. Sixty-five percent of the parents were in the lower social classes (IV and V) and 90% of them were married under traditional law and custom. Half of the moslem fathers and 40.9% of the christian fathers had more than one wife each. The numbers of children per father and per mother were 5.2 and 3.3 respectively. Correction of the various social problems encountered require public enlightenment and health education,