Community Perception of Wounds and Health Seeking Behaviors amongst Youths in an Urban Setting in Cameroon.

Background: A wound is defined as a defect or break in the continuity of the skin that results from physical mechanical or thermal damage, or that develops as a result of the presence of an underlying medical or physiological disorder. In the young age group of 15–29 years, five of the 15 leading causes of death are related to unintentional injury. Objective: This study was aimed at assessing the community perception on wounds and health seeking behaviours among youths in the Nkwen Health area, Bamenda, North West Region of Cameroon. Materials and Methods: This study was a community-based cross-sectional study involving 59 females and 84 males with a mean age of 29.5±6.3years. Participants were randomly enrolled for a period of two months. Youths 18 to 35 years (59 females and 84 males) who had ever sustained a wound and who accepted to take part were included in the study. A questionnaire was used to collect data. Data was analyzed using SPSS version 23 and presented using frequency distribution tables and charts. Cross tabulations were used to assess association between categorical variables. Results: Of the 143, 68.9% of youths had good perception of wounds and wound management. There was no significant association between perception and socio-demographic factors. More than half (65%) of the youths have poor health seeking behaviours as they reported to first managed their wounds out of the hospital. There was a significant association between occupation and health seeking behaviour (X2 = 30.2, p= 0.001). For reasons for choice, 71.1% shun the hospital due to high cost. There was a significant association between age category and cost as well as age category and fear of stigmatization (X2 = 7.34, p =0.007). Conclusion: Youths in the Nkwen health area have a good perception on wounds and wound management but poor health seeking behaviours. High cost of conventional medicine is the main reason why they seek health care out of the hospital. Emphasis should be laid on the importance of seeking wound care at the hospital as early as possible after sustaining a wound.