Assessing Physical, Mental, Social and Nutritional Health Needs of Students in a Special Needs School in North Central Nigeria DOI: https://dx.doi.org/10.4314/ajhs.v38i3.12

Abstract

Background: Four in five hundred children live with disability in developing countries and often experience unmet physical, mental, social and nutritional health needs due to poor access to inclusive education and healthcare. Although school health programs exist, there remains insufficient data on how well these programs meet the health needs of children with disabilities in Nigeria. This study aims to assess the health needs of students in special needs schools in North Central Nigeria.

Methods: A cross-sectional study was conducted among 500 students with visual, hearing, and learning impairments across four special needs schools in North Central Nigeria. A multistage sampling technique was employed for the selection of respondents, and data were collected using a pretested, semi-structured questionnaire, which was used to collect information about the socio-demographic, health needs, factors associated with health needs and physical examination assessment of the students. Each domain was scored using a five-point Likert scale, and total scores were categorised as “adequate” if above the mean and “inadequate” if below the mean. Data were analysed with SPSS version 23.0 using descriptive and inferential statistics with a significance level set at p < 0.05.

Results: the mean age of the respondents was 16.4±3.5 years, with a slight male predominance (54%). Overall, 79.2% of students had adequate health needs. Adequacy was highest in mental health needs (90.6%) and lowest in nutritional needs (75.2%). Visually impaired students reported lower participation in physical activities than students with hearing impairment (p<0.05), indicating disparities across disability types.

Conclusions: Despite the disability of the students, their health needs were adequately met as more than three-quarters of the respondents had access to adequate health care.