Family planning use: prevalence, pattern and predictors among women in an urban slum in Enugu, Nigeria

Introduction: High fertility,high birth rates and low family planning prevalence rate is a common feature in developing countries with consequent rapid population growth. Family planning has saved the lives and protected the health of millions of women and children. This study aims to ascertain prevalence, pattern and predictors of family planning use among women living in an urban slum.Methodology: It was a Community based, descriptive cross sectional study using questionnaire. Chi square test was used to assess associations of socio-demographics characteristics with ever used and currently using family planning. Binary logistic regression was used to determine the predictors of family planning use.Result: Of the 281 women studied, 50.5% of respondents have used family planning method before and 35.6% still using. Commonly used methods include;withdrawal (30.2%),condom (26.7%) and abstinence (26.7%) while the least used were sterilization (1.1%) and BTL (1.4%).About 79.7% of non-users cited fear of side effects as the major reason and 9.3% discontinued due to side effects. There were statistically significant association of age, marital status, occupation and number of children with ever used family planning (all p < 0.001).Those aged 25-34 years were 0.22 (95% CI: 0.10-0.48) times likely and those aged ≥ 35 years 0.32 (95% CI: 0.122-0.83) likely to have ever used family planning than those aged 24 years and below. Equally those with 1-3 children were 0.25 (95% CI: 0.08-0.80) likely and those that had> 3 children 0.22 (95% CI: 0.06-0.81) likely to have ever used family planning than those with no children.Conclusion: Prevalence of family planning is poor. Fear of side effects, inconvenience and religion played a major role in the reduction of use of family planning. Identified predictors were age and number of children. There is need to increase access, reduce cost and improve promotion on services like counselling to enable informed choices which will ultimately increase family planning uptake.Keywords: Prevalence, pattern, predictors, family planning, urban slu

Socio‑demographic Characteristics and Workplace Safety Practices of Panel Beaters: A Comparative Study of Roadside and Organized Sectors in Enugu State, Nigeria

Background: Human resources and their safety are central to occupational health practices. Understanding the sociodemographic characteristics and safety practices of workers helps in workplace interventions. This study aimed at comparing the sociodemographic characteristics and safety practices among roadside and organized panel beaters in Enugu metropolis, Enugu State, Nigeria. Methodology: This was a comparative cross-sectional study. Amultistage sampling method was used to select 428 panel beaters in Enugu metropolis. A semi-structured interviewer-administered questionnaire was used for data collection. Data was entered and analyzed using the Statistical Package for the Social Sciences 20. Comparative analysis was done using Chi‑square and the level of significance was set at 5%. Results: The mean ages (standard deviation) were 31.1 ± 10.3 years and 37.9 ± 12.1 years for roadside and organized panel beaters, respectively. The majority of respondents, (70.6%) and (56.5%), from the roadside and organized sectors, respectively, had secondary education. About 59.8% of the roadside panel beaters were single compared to about two-thirds (63.1%) of organized panel beaters who were married. More than two-thirds (72.9%) of roadside workers earn more than N 35,000 monthly, while half of the organized workers earn more than N 35,000. The differences in sociodemographic characteristics and monthly income were statistically  significant. Environmental sanitation was the most common safety and hygiene practices engaged by respondents. Very few   respondents, more among the organized sector, noted that their workplaces were monitored or checked. The use of personal protective equipment was found to be generally deficient, in addition to poor health and safety training. Conclusion: There was a statistically significant difference in the sociodemographic characteristics between the roadside and organized sectors panel beaters with poor safety practices. Routine and improved health education and safety training on basic preventive measures would be necessary to prevent occupational hazards in the workplace. Keywords: Panel beaters, sociodemographic characteristics, workplace safety measure

Perception and practice of breastfeeding among HIV positive mothers receiving care for prevention of mother to child transmission in South-East, Nigeria

Abstract Background Although the risk of HIV transmission through breastfeeding is reduced considerably with the use of antiretroviral therapy, infant feeding by HIV positive mothers remains controversial. Weighing risks against benefits generates intense debate among policymakers, program managers and service providers in sub-Saharan Africa, considering that the major causes of infant death of malnutrition and infectious diseases, could be prevented if mothers breastfeed their babies. Whereas breastfeeding involves some risk of HIV transmission, not breastfeeding poses considerable risk to infant survival. This study investigated perceptions and practice of breastfeeding of HIV-exposed infants among HIV positive mothers. Methods A cross-sectional descriptive study was conducted in Enugu metropolis among HIV positive mothers receiving care for prevention of mother-to-child transmission of HIV from two public and two private hospitals. Interviewer-administered questionnaire survey was done with 550 participants as they exited the final point of service delivery. Descriptive statistics of perception and practice variables and cross tabulation of selected variables was performed. Results Most mothers knew that HIV could be transmitted through breast milk. The majority perceived any type of breastfeeding as beneficial to the infant: 230 (83.6%) in private facilities, and 188 (68.4%) public facilities. Over three-quarters of the mothers breastfed their infants and their reasons for breastfeeding included personal choice, cultural norms, fear of HIV status being disclosed and pressure from family members. A statistical significant association was found between; (i) practice of breastfeeding and marital status, (p < 0.01), and (ii) practice of breastfeeding and household income provider (p = 0.02). However, neither marital status (AOR 1.4; 95% CI 0.3, 6.8) nor being the household income provider (AOR 4.9; 95% CI 0.6, 12.9) is a significant predictor of breastfeeding of HIV-exposed infants. Conclusions Breastfeeding remains a common trend among HIV positive women and it is associated with economic independence of women and social support. Fear of stigma negatively affects practice of breastfeeding. Hence, HIV positive mothers need economic independence and the support of family members to practice recommended infant feeding options