Work Facets Predicting Overall Job Satisfaction among Teachers in Selected Secondary schools in Ibadan South-West Nigeria: A Minnesota Satisfaction Questionnaire Survey

Background: Global measures are often used to assess employees’ job satisfaction. However, important information is lost when this approach is  adopted. The use of multidimensional approach provides robust information for potential intervention. This study aimed to assess the work facets  predicting the overall single-item job satisfaction measure among teachers in Ibadan, Nigeria. Methods: This was a cross-sectional descriptive study conducted among 476 secondary school teachers selected using a multistage sampling  method. A structured questionnaire was used for data collection while data was analyzed using SPSS version 26. The Minnesota Satisfaction  Questionnaire (MSQ) and a single-item satisfaction measure assessed satisfaction. A linear regression model of the overall job satisfaction was developed. P-value ≤ 0.05 was regarded as statistically significant. Results: The mean age of respondents was 38.1±9.0 years. Majority of respondents were females 263 (55.3%) and married 363 (76.3%). The  respondents expressed above average satisfaction with all work facets except compensation 161 (33.8%) and work conditions 223 (46.8%). The work  facets which significantly predicted overall job satisfaction included: supervision-human relations (β = 0.121: 95% CI = 0.013 to 0.229; p = 0.028);policies & practices (β = 0.111: 95% CI = 0.021 to 0.201; p = 0.016); compensation (β =0.125: 95% CI = 0.035 to 0.214; p = 0.006) and recognition (β = 0.113: 95% CI = 0.006 to 0.220; p = 0.039) Conclusion: Overall job satisfaction was mostly predicted by factors extrinsic to the job, so these could be specifically targeted for interventions to  improve job satisfaction among teachers

Multilevel Modelling of The Predictors of Post-Stroke Depression in South-West Nigeria

Recent decline in stroke mortality engendered by improved treatment has led to an increase in post-stroke morbidity and related healthcare cost. Most of post-stroke morbidity is due to depression. Few studies have examined the association of contextual factors with post-stroke depression (PSD) using a multilevel framework. This study used multilevel modelling to examine both individual and contextual predictors of PSD in southwest, Nigeria. The study used secondary data from a comparative cross-sectional study of one hundred and thirty (130) stroke survivors. Participants were consenting adult (aged ≥18 years) residing in southwest Nigeria who have survived stroke in the last 3 to 24 months preceding the time of the study. Data were preliminarily analyzed using descriptive statistics including percentages and frequency tables. Bivariate association tests were carried out using Chi-square test. Multivariate analyses were performed using multilevel logit modeling and results were presented as odds ratio and their 95% Confidence Intervals (95% CI). All analyses were performed at 5% significance level. The mean (±standard deviation) age of participants was 59.54 ± 11.08 and most participants (53.6%) were female. Exactly half of the participants were retirees while most of them were currently married (82.3%), resided in urban (76.7%), and never used alcohol (73.8%). Prevalence of PSD in this study was 41.5%. Post-stroke depression was more likely among younger stroke survivors (OR=1.47; 95% CI: 1.16, 1.85), female (OR=1.37; 95% CI: 1.16, 1.60), alcohol users (OR=1.21; 95% CI: 1.04, 1.47), and the retired (OR=1.23; 95% CI: 1.04, 1.45). PSD was significantly associated with history of stressful life events and all depressed stroke survivors had considered suicide. Post stroke depression was common in younger survivors. Female survivors and alcohol users were more depressed. History of stressful life event is predictive of post stroke depression in this sample. Interventions focusing on women, alcohol users and people with history of stressful life events that had survived a stroke may reduce the burden of post stroke depression and possibilities of suicide

Effects of chondroitin sulfate and sodium hyaluronate on chondrocytes and extracellular matrix of articular cartilage in dogs with degenerative joint disease Efeitos do sulfato de condroitina e do hialuronato de sódio nos condrócitos e na matriz extracelular na cartilagem articular de cães com doença articular degenerativa

Samples of articular cartilage of femur, tibia and patella of 15 dogs with experimentally induced degenerative joint disease (DJD) were microscopically analyzed. Animals were distributed into three groups (n=5): the control group received no medication; the second group was treated with chondroitin sulfate and the third received sodium hyaluronate. Samples were processed and stained with HE and toluidine blue for morphological evaluation. The metabolic and proliferative activity of the chondrocytes was evaluated by the measurement of nucleolar organizer regions (NORs) after impregnation by silver nitrate. Significant differences were not observed (P>0.05) in the morphology among the groups, however, the group treated with sodium hyaluronate had a higher score suggesting a trend to a greater severity of the lesions. Significant differences were not observed (P>0.05) in the measurement of NORs, cells and NORs/cells among the groups. Although differences were not significant, sodium hyaluronate group showed higher NOR and cell counts which suggested an increase of the proliferation rate of chondrocytes. In addition, a higher NOR/cell ratio in the group treated with chondroitin sulfate suggested that this drug may have stimulated the metabolic activity of the chondrocytes, minimizing the lesions resulting from DJD.<br>Foram utilizadas amostras de cartilagem articular do fêmur, tíbia e patela de 15 cães com doença articular degenerativa (DAD), induzida experimentalmente. Foram constituídos três grupos de cinco animais: grupo 1 - controle, não medicado; grupo 2 - tratado com sulfato de condroitina e grupo 3 - tratado com hialuronato de sódio. As amostras foram processadas e coradas pelas técnicas de HE e de azul de toluidina para avaliação das alterações morfológicas, e impregnadas pelo nitrato de prata para análise da atividade metabólica e/ou proliferativa dos condrócitos, por meio da visualização e quantificação de regiões organizadoras do nucléolo (NORs). Não foram notadas diferenças significativas (P<0,05) na avaliação morfológica entre os grupos. O grupo tratado com hialuronato obteve maior escore sugerindo maior gravidade das lesões. Não foram observadas diferenças significativas (P>0,05) na contagem de NORs, células e NORs/célula entre os grupos. As maiores contagens de NORs e de células no grupo tratado com hialuronato de sódio sugeriram aumento da taxa de proliferação dos condrócitos. A maior relação de NORs/célula obtida no grupo tratado com sulfato de condroitina sugere que essa droga estimula a atividade metabólica do condrócito, minimizando as lesões ocorridas durante a DAD

The ASOS Surgical Risk Calculator: development and validation of a tool for identifying African surgical patients at risk of severe postoperative complications

Background: The African Surgical Outcomes Study (ASOS) showed that surgical patients in Africa have a mortality twice the global average. Existing risk assessment tools are not valid for use in this population because the pattern of risk for poor outcomes differs from high-income countries. The objective of this study was to derive and validate a simple, preoperative risk stratification tool to identify African surgical patients at risk for in-hospital postoperative mortality and severe complications. Methods: ASOS was a 7-day prospective cohort study of adult patients undergoing surgery in Africa. The ASOS Surgical Risk Calculator was constructed with a multivariable logistic regression model for the outcome of in-hospital mortality and severe postoperative complications. The following preoperative risk factors were entered into the model; age, sex, smoking status, ASA physical status, preoperative chronic comorbid conditions, indication for surgery, urgency, severity, and type of surgery. Results: The model was derived from 8799 patients from 168 African hospitals. The composite outcome of severe postoperative complications and death occurred in 423/8799 (4.8%) patients. The ASOS Surgical Risk Calculator includes the following risk factors: age, ASA physical status, indication for surgery, urgency, severity, and type of surgery. The model showed good discrimination with an area under the receiver operating characteristic curve of 0.805 and good calibration with c-statistic corrected for optimism of 0.784. Conclusions: This simple preoperative risk calculator could be used to identify high-risk surgical patients in African hospitals and facilitate increased postoperative surveillance. © 2018 British Journal of Anaesthesia. Published by Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.Medical Research Council of South Africa gran