Morbidity Pattern, Availability and Utilization of Health Services: A Study among the Male Youth (15–24 Years) Living in the Slums

BACKGROUND: Youth is considered as a healthy period but their health is greatly influenced by the hostile living conditions in the slums. When this is accompanied by poor health infrastructure, health risk escalates multiple times. OBJECTIVES: The objective was (1) to study the health problems of the male youth living in the slums and (2) to study the availability and utilization of health services for the male youth living in the slums. SUBJECTS AND METHODS: Study design: Cross-sectional study. Study population: Male youth (15–24 years). Study settings: Four urban slums of Amritsar city. Study period: January 1, 2017–December 31, 2017. Sample size: One thousand male youths. Inclusion criteria: Male youth (15–24 years) with consent. Exclusion criteria: Male youth (15–24 years) not given consent, not available at home on the third repeat visit, and mentally unstable or deaf or dumb. RESULTS: The morbidity pattern showed that 47.5% suffered from any disease during the past 3 months and 3.3% were hospitalized in the past 1 year. Majority of the cases were due to diseases of the respiratory system and gastrointestinal system. Private health sectors including chemist shops were utilized more in case of both outpatient (88.9%) and inpatient services (57.6%) as compared to public health sector. The private health facilities were within 500 m from majority (89.6%) of households in the slums of Amritsar city. CONCLUSIONS: Primary health care needs to be strengthened in the slums. Effective and easily accessible health-care services should be provided by the government at the doorsteps of slum households. The Information Education Communication/Behavior Change Communication activities regarding disease prevention should be strengthened to promote and protect good health.