Academic Research Journal on Health Information Management

Vol. 6(3), pp. 68-78, September 2025

ISSN: 2734-2190

https://doi.org/10.14662/arjhim2025100

 

Full Length Research

 

 

Availability and Utilization of Health Information Resources by Medical Practitioners in Federal Medical Centres In Nigeria.

 

1Edidiong B. Nyong, 2Columbus O. Udofot and 3Vanessa N. Kittikaa

 

1,2&3Department of Library and Information Technology, Federal University of Technology, Ikot Abasi  

Corresponding author’s E-mail: columbusudofot@yahoo.com, E-mail: ediben@futia.edu.ng  

Accepted 22 September 2025

Abstract

Abstract: This study examined the availability and utilization of health information resources by medical practitioners in Federal Medical Centers in Nigeria. The purposes of the study were to: identify the types of health information resources available to medical practitioners in FMCs; determine the extent of utilization of health information resources for effective service delivery by medical practitioners in FMCs in Nigeria; identify the challenges militating against the utilization of health information resources by medical practitioners for effective service delivery in FMCs and proffer suggested solutions for overcoming the challenges militating against the utilization of health information resources for effective service delivery by medical practitioners in FMCs Nigeria. Four research questions guided the study. This study adopted descriptive survey research design. The population of the study comprised 350 medical practitioners from FMCs selected using multi-stage sampling procedure. Structured Questionnaire and Observation Checklist were used for data collection. Mean scores and standard deviation were used to answer the research questions. The result showed that medical practitioners in FMCs in Nigeria utilize available medical information resources for effective service delivery. The study also found out that certain challenges such as lack of awareness of available health information resources among medical practitioners, lack of virtual libraries, and lack of information literacy skills among medical practitioners in FMCs were some of the factors militating against availability and use of health information resources by the medical practitioners. Based on the findings of the study, it was recommended among others that current health information resources should be made available in the libraries of FMCs; also, there should be training and retraining of health professionals in FMCs on the utilization of health information resources and ICT to enable them stay abreast of latest developments in the health sector and gain knowledge for better service delivery.

 

Keywords: Availability; Utilization; Healthcare; Information Resources; Medical practitioners; Federal Medical Centres; Nigeria.

Paper type: research