Urban Slum Disease Burden/Determinants of Diseases in Squatter Settlement in Calabar, Cross River State Nigeria.

This study aims at a descriptive epidemiological survey of prevailing disease burden not readily detected or suspected by formal medical service of Governments and other stake holders as well as detection of the etiology of the identified disease in the area under investigation. The problem statement is informed by the clear recognition that the urban slum dwellers have a unique characteristic in the social, spatial, economic and demographic attributes which demands a careful assessment of their social ecology and the impact thereon. Objectives were therefore formulated to elicit the needed information that will underscore the very essence of determinants of diseases prevalent in the area. Plausible justification for the study was sufficiently elaborated from the point of view of epidemiological and social benefits derivable from the findings of the study. The methodology clearly expostulated such key frameworks as area of study, study design, study population/sampling techniques, instruments for data collection and procedure for collection of data which was analyzed by method of Analysis of Variance (ANOVA). The output of the findings showed that the calculated F-value is greater than the F-critical value at (0.05). Therefore, there was appreciable evidence to reject the null hypothesis and accept the alternative hypothesis which states that there is a significant variation or difference in the incidence of disease burden prevalent in the areas investigated. The research concluded that there is a critical need for a new method of health evaluation and characterization of social-cluster determinants of health in Urban Slum. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]