IIARD International Institute of Academic Research and Development

WORLD JOURNAL OF INNOVATION AND MODERN TECHNOLOGY (WJIMT )

E-ISSN 2504-4766
P-ISSN 2682-5910
VOL. 5 NO. 1 2022

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Flooding and Its Perceived Effects on the Health of the People of Ahoada East Local Government Area of Rivers State

AMADI PRECIOUS FRIDAY & CHIBUZOR CHIKA

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Abstract

This study investigated flood and its perceived effects on the health of the people of Ahoada Last Local Government Area of Rivers State. A descriptive survey Design was adopted for the study. The population of the study comprised of all the people in Ahoada Local Government Area. A simple random sampling technique was used to select four hundred and twenty-four participants. Data was collected using a structured questionnaire and analyzed using simple percentage, mean, standard deviation and ANOVA at 0.05 alpha level the mean age of respondents as 28.27±4.02 cams. 50.2% were females. 49.8% were males, 42.7% were married, 40.6% had tertiary level of education and 44.3% were working with pay. The finding of this study showed that flooding was low. The major source of flood found was heavy rainfall (34.9%). Majority (81.6%) indicated that flood had ever affected their health. The perceived physical health effects were fever (92.2%), malaria (88.2%), cholera (78.3%), typhoid (77.8%), foot sores (70.8%), spontaneous abortion (miscarriage) (68.4%), dermatitis (67.0%) diarrhea (66.7%), and conjunctivitis (60.6%). The perceived mental health effect include; suicide ideation (77.8%), forgetfulness and soliloquizing (74.3%), post-traumatic stress disorder (73.6%), and mental disorder (60.4%). The perceived emotional health effects of flooding were anxiety and disappointment (94.1%) followed by emotional stress and sadness 381(89.9%). Depression and illusion 349(82.3%), and insomnia and headache 297(70.0%). The result of the tested hypotheses showed that statistically there is a significant different between flood and perceived mental health (p<0.05), emotional health (p<0.05) and physical health consequences which can affect physical, mental and emotional well-being. It was recommended therefore, house management agencies and town planners should ensure that building of houses and structures are been supervised and well planned in such a way that will n

keywords:

Flood, Health effect, Prevalence, Ahoada East

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