Abstract of Master’s Dissertation
No.1
International HealthCourse

Development Course

Name

Keiko Nakayama

Thesis

The current situation and student’s perspectives of the sickbay in public senior

Title

high schools in Lower Manya Krobo Municipality, Eastern Region, Ghana

Abstract of Master’s Dissertation
Background :School health is essential for school-age children and adolescents’ health and academic
achievement.
Sickbay is a school-based health facility managed by a school nurse to provide basic
healthcare services for students.
In Ghana, sickbay has been in progress since Ghana Education Service (GES) andGhana Health Service (GHS) announced the establishment of sickbays in public seniorhigh schools.
However, there are not much information about the situation of the sickbay in Ghana.
Objectives :This study aimed to obtain information about the current situation and student’s
perspectives of the sickbays in four public senior high schools in Lower Manya Krobo
Municipality, Eastern Region, Ghana. Specifically, this study investigated the conditionof the sickbays, and the sickbay utilization with the major reasons. Also, this study
explored factors influencing student’s low satisfaction with the sickbay.
Methods :Aschool-based

quantitative

cross-sectional

studywitha

self-administeredquestionnaire was conducted among students in four public senior high schools. Data
was collected from the third- and second-grade students in July, 2022. Out of 480
participants, 468 responses were analyzed. Descriptive analysis and chi-squared tests
were performed to explore the associations between dependent variables (sickbay
utilization,

sickbaysatisfaction)

andindependentvariables(demographic

characteristics of the participants, students’ perspectives). The binary logistic
regression analysis was used to explore factors influencing students’ low satisfaction.
In addition, observations of the sickbays were conducted to find out conditions of thesickbays in the study site.

Abstract of Master’s Dissertation
No.2
CourseInternational Health
Development Course

Name

Keiko Nakayama

Results :67.3% of the participants had ever used the sickbay. There were significant
associations between the sickbay utilization and sex, residential style, healthinsurance coverage, and school. Female students, boarding students, students withhealth insurance were more likely to use the sickbay.
In a bivariate satisfaction scale, 68.9% of the participants in all schools had highsatisfaction.
In the binary logistic regression, students who had negative perspectives on “sufficient
medicine” (OR = 2.29, 95%CI [1.14, 4.62], p = 0.021), “the care given by the nurse
solved a problem” (OR = 3.68, 95%CI [1.96, 6.90], p < 0.001), and “friend’srecommendation” (OR = 2.24, 95%CI [1.20, 4.19], p = 0.011) had increased the odds ofhaving low satisfaction of the sickbay than those who had positive perspectives.
Conclusion :The utilization and satisfaction of the sickbay were generally high proportion among
the participants. However, looking at students’ perspectives towards the sickbay, there
were some negative perspectives. Their negative experience, such as not getting
medicine or not solving their health problem in the sickbay, affect students’ lowsatisfaction. Their friend’s perceptions would also influence their satisfaction.
The condition of the sickbay was different from school to school. To improve thesesituations and students’ perspectives, it is essential to standardize the sickbay
management. It would be better to update detailed guidelines specific to the
management of the sickbay, such as what types of medicines to be treated or the
standard number of medicines to be stocked in the sickbay; how to involve otherservice providers besides school nurse to support students’ health.
(Word count: 497 words)