ABSTRACT
Background: Most university health services have extensive health infrastructures; for the provision of effective and efficient health services to the students. In this study; we have tried to determine student's perception of factors affecting their utilization.Objective: To determine students' perception of health care services provided in a tertiary institution and assess students' attitude towards utilization.Materials and Methods: Simple random sampling technique was used to select 540 respondents; comprising of 390 males and 150 females. A structured and self-administered questionnaire was the instrument used to collect data for the study; while data collected was analyzed using descriptive statistics of frequency count and percentage.Results: High cost of drugs (72.0); non availability of essential drugs (54.8); time spent waiting for treatment (67.2); inadequate referral services (81.7); and satisfaction with services (60.6) were considered by the respondents as factors affecting the utilization of university health services. Students-medical staff relationship and accessibility to health facility (77.6 and 74.3 respectively) were; however; not considered as factors that affect utilization of university health services.Conclusion: It is recommended that to improve utilization and cost of care; government should make necessary efforts to incorporate tertiary institution into National Health Insurance scheme so that students above the age of 18 years can benefit from free treatment