FACTORS INFLUENCING AND DANGERS OF CRIMINAL ABORTION AMONG TEENAGERS IN A SENIOR SECONDARY SCHOOL IN EKITI STATE, NIGERIA

Background: Abortion poses a huge threat and burden to women’s reproductive health most especially in countries where it is illegal. About 210 million pregnancies occur every year all over the world, 80 million are unwanted, 46 million end in induced abortion and nearly 20 million are estimated to be unsafe resulting in the death of 80,000 women annually. An estimated 1.2 million induced abortion take place annually in Nigeria. Materials and methods: A descriptive cross-sectional study design was employed to assess the knowledge of teenagers in a senior secondary school on what they perceive to be the dangers of and factors responsible for criminal abortion. Results: Majority of the students were females (73.3%), within ages 16-19 years (51.3%), Christians (49.3%) and Yorubas (56.7%). Poverty (72.7%), early start of sexual activities (56.7%) and ignorance (50.7%) were the most implicated factors for criminal abortion. Most of the students see death (88.7%), infection (80%) and perforated uterus (79.3%) as dangers of criminal abortion. Conclusion: Abortion still remains an issue of public health concern in Nigeria. It is clear that there is high prevalence of unsafe abortions with its attendant morbidity and mortality in Nigeria We recommend that besides teenagers’ knowledge of the dangers of abortion, other components of sex education such as abstinence and contraception should be introduced into secondary schools’ education curriculum. Community sensitization and availability of contraception will also go a long way in reducing the possibility of girls and women engaging in criminal abortion

Awareness and Prevalence of Cardiovascular Risk Factors among Workers in an Agro-allied Company in Nigeria

Cardiovascular diseases have significantly increased in the last century becoming the leading cause of morbidity and mortality globally. Work,worksite situations and practices are known to influence cardiovascular risk factors, hence the aim of this study to assess the awareness and prevalence of cardiovascular risk factors among workers in an agro-allied industry in Nigeria. A descriptive cross sectional survey was carried out to find out those with cardiovascular risk factors. Data were collected using an interviewer-assisted questionnaire developed using the WHO STEPwise approach to chronic disease risk surveillance. The mean age of the respondents was 34 ± 9.7 years. More than half 303 (59.4) of the respondents had high awareness of cardiovascular risk factors. Of the risk factors of cardiovascular diseases, 6.9% were current daily smokers, 15.1% abuse alcohol, 89.8% engaged in unhealthy diet, 66.5% do not engage in moderate/vigorous physical activities, 14.5% had family history of cardiovascular diseases, 17.8%% were overweight/obese and 37.1% were hypertensive. Overall, 64.5% of the respondents were classified as having low risk of developing cardiovascular diseases while about 30.4% had moderate risk and 2.7% had high risk. We recommend that health education regarding cardiovascular diseases risk factors be delivered periodically

Awareness and Prevalence of Cardiovascular Risk Factors among Workers in an Agro-allied Company in Nigeria

Cardiovascular diseases have significantly increased in the last century becoming the leading cause of morbidity and mortality globally. Work, worksite situations and practices are known to influence cardiovascular risk factors, hence the aim of this study to assess the awareness and prevalence of cardiovascular risk factors among workers in an agro-allied industry in Nigeria. A descriptive cross sectional survey was carried out to find out those with cardiovascular risk factors. Data were collected using an interviewer-assisted questionnaire developed using the WHO STEPwise approach to chronic disease risk surveillance. The mean age of the respondents was 34 ± 9.7 years. More than half 303 (59.4) of the respondents had high awareness of cardiovascular risk factors. Of the risk factors of cardiovascular diseases, 6.9% were current daily smokers, 15.1% abuse alcohol, 89.8% engaged in unhealthy diet, 66.5% do not engage in moderate/vigorous physical activities, 14.5% had family history of cardiovascular diseases, 17.8%% were overweight/obese and 37.1% were hypertensive. Overall, 64.5% of the respondents were classified as having low risk of developing cardiovascular diseases while about 30.4% had moderate risk and 2.7% had high risk. We recommend that health education regarding cardiovascular diseases risk factors be delivered periodically

Cardiovascular Diseases among Agro-Allied Company Workers in Nigeria: A Case Control Study

Mortality arising from cardiovascular diseases among the workforce in developing countries has been reported to be about twice as high as the mortality in developed countries and tends to occur much earlier than in the developed countries. A nested case-control study design was employed. The mean age of the respondents was 34 ± 9.7 years. The respondents were mostly males (90.6%), 65.1% were married and 83.1% were of the Yoruba ethnicity. Majority of the respondents (67.3%) were Christians and 83.7% had secondary education and above. Age, marital status, salary grade and religion were statistically associated with CVD status (p < 0.05). Being an office worker, earning the lowest income, being less than 50 years of age were significant predictors of CVD risk factors (p<0.05). Educational and behavioural intervention need to be implemented to encourage adoption of healthy lifestyle so as to reduce the cardiovascular risk factors among workers

COVID-19 pandemic and unmet need for family planning in Nigeria

Introduction:&nbsp;the unmet need for family planning is a global health burden. The lockdown occasioned by the COVID-19 pandemic has reduced access to contraceptives, especially in the developing countries. This study examined the predictors of the unmet need for family planning during the COVID-19 pandemic lockdown in Nigeria. Methods:&nbsp;the study adopted a cross-sectional analytical survey design. A self-designed questionnaire was administered to 1,404 adult respondents aged 18 years and above. The data was generated through the use of online Google survey and analyzed with SPSS version 25. The results were presented using descriptive and logistic regression at p≤0.05. Results:&nbsp;fourty-seven percent of the respondents were females and 58.8% were married. The four major reasons for non-access to contraceptive methods during the lockdown were: fear of visiting health facility (77.9%), locked drug/chemist stores (51.2%), the restriction of movement (47.6%) and a lack of access to health care providers (42.9%). Predictors of unmet need for family planning were: aged 26-33 (OR = 1.912, 95% CI: 1.02-3.55), married/cohabiters (OR = 3.693, 95% CI: 2.44-5.58), tertiary education (OR = 0.272, 95% CI: 0.13-0.54), Yoruba ethnicity (OR=1.642, 95% CI: 1.02-2.62), rural residence (OR = 0.554, 95% CI: 0.36-0.85) and 2-4 children born (OR = 3.873, 95% CI: 2.32-6.45). Conclusion:&nbsp;a significant proportion of Nigerians experienced an unmet need for family planning during the COVID-19 lockdown. Prioritizing the access to contraceptives during the pandemic would not only allow women and men to correctly plan childbirth, it also reduces maternal risks, poverty and undesirable fertility rates

The prevalence and determinants of helmet use amongst commercial motorcyclists in Ido-Osi local government area

Commercial motorcycle (CM) accidents constitute a major public concern in Nigeria. There is 8:10 chance that injuries resulting from these accidents are severe and debilitating including head and spinal injuries. This study is aimed at producing useful data on the prevalence, frequency, and determinants of helmet use among commercial motorcyclist in Ido-Osi Local Government Area, Ekiti State, Nigeria. The study was a descriptive/cross-sectional study. A total of 360 respondents were selected by multi-stage sampling technique and interviewed using assisted self-administered, semi-structured questionnaire. Data were analyzed using SPSS version 21. Determinants of helmet use examined included age, educational level, marital status and religion. There was a 100% response rate. More than half of the respondents were within the age range of 20–29 years 164(53.6%) with the mean age of the study participants 29.9. The prevalence of helmet usage among commercial motorcyclist was 23.5%. The commonest reason for not using a crash helmet in this study was non-availability. The commonest reason for the non-availability of the welding helmet was the cost of the helmet. Less than half of the respondents were able to show or present helmet although some of the helmet presented were sub-standard (39.7%). The study also revealed irregular use of helmets among the respondents that used a helmet while riding a motorcycle as only 2.7% of them used it for all the five riding sessions assessed in this study. There was a statistically significant relationship between age, educational level, marital status and the use of helmets among respondents with p values of 0.005, 0.027, and 0.009, respectively. The prevalence of the use of helmets among the motorcyclist in this study is low despite the high level of awareness of legislation among the respondents on the use of helmets during riding. There is a need for the government to make provision for a safety helmet for this group of people at a subsidized rate if it cannot be given free of charge because of the economic situation of the country. There is a need to carry out behavioral change communication for this group of people

COVID-19 Health Knowledge and Practices among Nigerian Residents during the Second Wave of the Pandemic: A quick online cross-sectional survey

Background:The COVID-19 pandemic has redefined life as a whole. The lack of knowledge about the safe practices needed to manage the spread of the global pandemic could be detrimental to public health. This dearth of knowledge and inappropriate practices could increase the spread of the coronavirus and lead to high mortality rates in a country like Nigeria where access to healthcare services is limited. The study’s objective was to assess the health knowledge and practices of Nigerian residents in the face of the second wave of the COVID-19 pandemic.Materials and Methods:The study adopted a cross-sectional online survey which was conducted from January 2 to February 1, 2021. A self-administered questionnaire was used to collect data on the socio-demographics characteristics of respondents, the knowledge of COVID-19 and health management practices related to the virus. The reliability of the instrument yielded 0.72 internal consistency and the data were analyzed using descriptive and logistic regression at p&lt;0.05.Results:A total of 1,988 respondents participated in the study; 49.3% of this number were urban residents, 63.0% were males, 58.1% were married, and 67.4% had tertiary education. Overall, the mean score was 9.44±1.8 (72.6%) for knowledge and 6.72±3.1 (56%) for appropriate practices. Rural residence (OR = 0.552, 95% CI 0.351–0.868), female gender (OR = 4.494, 95% CI 3.264–6.187), aged 50 years and above (OR = 0.137, 95% CI 0.071-0.261), married status (OR = 5.004, 95% CI 3.242–7.724), tertiary education (OR = 7.049, 95% CI 4.362–11.391), Yoruba ethnicity (OR = 2.828, 95% CI 1.292–6.187), and good knowledge of COVID-19 (OR = 1.905, 95% CI 1.376–2.637) significantly predict appropriate practices.Conclusion:A substantial number of our respondents had good knowledge but lacked appropriate practices towards COVID-19. The beliefs of the people influenced inappropriate practices just as adequate practice was associated with good knowledge. There is a need for adequate sensitization programmes which might require the use of local languages/dialects and Nigerian Pidgin English to reduce the misinformation surrounding the virus. Keywords: COVID-19 Pandemic, Knowledge, Beliefs, Practices, Nigeri