Pattern of health seeking behaviour of mothers for common childhood illnesses in Enugu metropolis south east zone Nigeria

TheObjective of the study is to assess the Health Seeking Behaviour ofmotherswhen their children presentwith the common aliments and their preferred treatment options. A cross sectional survey of 300 women that brought their children for routine immunization and growthmonitoring to three health institutions in Enugumetropolis was carried out using an interviewer administered structured questionnaire. Majority of the mothers, 208(69.3%) used self treatment for their children at home when they presented with common illnesses.Atotal of 146(48.7%) made use of government health institutions, 117(39. 0%) attended private health institutions while 21(7.0%) consulted an elder woman and 9 (.0%) patronized prayer house.Only 3(1%) respondents sought the help of traditional healers. In this study, the greater percentage of mothers used self medication for treatment of common childhood illnesses.The implication of this is that themajority of themothersmay not know the right treatment to institute at any point in time. This situation could lead to more complications of the illnesses or even loss of life.As a result,mothers should be educated on how best to take care of their sick children athome and be able to recognizewhen to seek appropriate help.Keywords: Health SeekingBehavior,Mothers,CommonChildhood Illnesse

Cross-sectional study on COVID-19 prevention and vaccination status of veterinary colleges in Southeast Nigeria

COVID-19 vaccination and compliance with the established prevention protocols are integral to curbing the spread of the COVID-19 virus; however, there is a paucity of information on compliance with these measures among veterinary schools within southeast Nigeria. To fill this gap, we evaluated the vaccination status and individual’s perception of the preventive measures against COVID-19 infections. A cross-sectional study using a self-reported internet-based questionnaire was employed to obtain responses from students and staff of the veterinary colleges in southeast Nigeria. Multivariate binary logistic regression analysis was used to identify significant factors associated with vaccination status and compliance with the COVID-19 prevention protocols by the respondents. A total of 183 individuals participated in the online survey. Although 75% (138/183) of the respondents revealed a willingness to take the COVID-19 vaccine, only 25.1% (46/183) of the respondents had received one or more doses of the COVID-19 vaccine. We observed that male respondents (28 ± 4.4% (95% CI 19–37)) had a higher percentage of vaccinated individuals than female respondents. Furthermore, the academic staff of the veterinary colleges were 39.70 (95% CI 2.50–630.65; ) times more likely to get vaccinated than undergraduate students. The educational status of the respondent greatly contributed to the willingness to get vaccinated, and individuals within the age bracket of 31 to 40 years were 10.2 ± 1.07 (95% CI 1.33–92.25; ) times less likely to comply with the COVID-19 prevention protocols. Although a high proportion of the respondents had a good perception of the COVID-19 prevention protocols, only 25.1% of the members of the veterinary colleges in southeast Nigeria had been vaccinated. Therefore, there is a need to create better awareness channels to improve the vaccination status of members of veterinary colleges in southeast Nigeria

Influence of gender on prevalence of overweight and obesity in Nigerian schoolchildren and adolescents

Overweight and obesity are serious health concerns for children. However, only a few studies have investigated the influence of gender on prevalence of overweight and obesity in children and adolescents in Nigeria. The objective of this study was to investigate gender influence on prevalence of overweight and obesity among Nigerian school children and adolescents. Information on age and gender of the participants was collected from the school register. Data on height, weight and BMI was collected using standard techniques. A total of 9,014 children and adolescents (male=4392; female=4622), aged 2-18 years, from 28 randomly selected schools were analyzed. Overweight and obesity were determined using the International Obesity Task Force cut-off points by age and gender. Males had higher BMI than females at age group 2-6 years, whereas females had higher BMI than males at age groups 11-14 years and 15-18 years. Females had significantly higher prevalence of overweight (P<0.05) than males at age group 11-14 and 15-18 years. However, there was no gender difference in the prevalence of obesity from childhood through adolescence. In conclusion, BMI is larger in males in early childhood but larger in females in during adolescence. More female adolescents are at risk of obesity than males

Liquid-solid Solubility in AMP-KSAR-CO2-H2O System

Solid-liquid solubility of an example novel precipitating solvent system (NPSS); an aqueous blend of AMP and KSAR with and without CO2 were studied to determine the crystallization and dissolution regimes as well as the nature/composition of precipitate crystals formed. The unloaded aqueous AMP-KSAR solution does not crystallize at 12oC. Solid crystal formation start at ≈12oC at loading 0.28 mol/mol. Crystals formed for the loaded system was both temperature and loading dependent. Up to medium loading, 0.38 mol/mol only one type of precipitate crystal; AMP bicarbonate is formed and the transition dissolution temperature was found to be 46oC. At high loadings, 0.45 and 0.48 mol/mol additional precipitate of potassium bicarbonate (KHCO3) is formed in the mist of the initial AMP bicarbonate precipitate. At loading 0.48 mol/mol the transition dissolution temperature of the KHCO3 precipitate formed is 81oC

A Quantitative Survey on the knowledge and use of Contraceptive among women in Delta State, Nigeria

This study examines the knowledge and use of contraceptive amongst women in Oghara, Delta, State, Nigeria. The objectives of the study include: to determine the demographic variables that impact on the knowledge and usage of Contraceptive among women, to identify the medium adopted to acquire knowledge of Contraceptive among women,and to ascertain the Contraceptive method used by women. The source of data for the study was the primary source of data collection with the aid of a questionnaire administered to the target population. The statistical tools used in this study were the Logistic regression analysis and Descriptive Statistics. The findings of the study for the descriptive analysis of the demographic responses showed that majority of the respondents were aged 30-34 while the majority of the respondents were married, the majority of the respondents had secondary education. It was found that the overall misclassification rate of knowledge of contraceptive among the respondents was 38.2% while the overall misclassification on use of contraceptive was 17.3% which implies that the response from the respondents on knowledge and use of contraceptive were reliable. Also, findings showed that demographic variables such as Age of respondents and response on the desired number of children contributed significantly to the status of knowledge of contraceptive amongst women. Further findings revealed that demographic variables such as Marital Status of respondents, Religion, and the highest level of education contributed significantly to the status of use of contraceptives amongst women

Ultrasound measured testicular volume in Nigerian adults: Relationship of the three formulae with height, body weight, body-surface area, and body-mass index

Background: Measurement of testicular volume is one of the ways of assessing testicular function. Ultrasonography is an important and accurate radiological method for measurement of testicular volume. Objective: This study was aimed at evaluating the relationship of ultrasound measured testicular volume using the three formulae with the subjects' height, body weight, body surface area (BSA), and body mass index (BMI) in adults. Methodology: One hundred twenty-five adult male subjects comprising staff and students of a University Teaching Hospital were recruited into the study. Height and body weight were measured while the BMI and BSA were calculated. Ultrasound measurement of the height, length, and width of both testes were done and used to calculate the volumes using the three formulae. Results: The subjects' age ranged from 19 to 29 years with a mean of 23.48 ± 2.26 yrs. The mean ultrasound measured volumes for the right and left testes were 15.38 ± 3.29 ml and 15.29 ± 3.89 ml using the prolate ellipsoid formula; 22.86 ± 5.43 ml and 23.54 ± 6.88 ml by the prolate spheroid formula; 21.20 ± 5.28 ml and 20.87 ± 5.35 ml by the Lambert formula, respectively. The calculated mean for height, body weight, BMI, and BSA were 174.64 ± 6.36 cm, 68.68 ± 8.25 kg, 22.48 ± 2.17 kg/m2, and 1.82 ± 0.13 m2, respectively. The right testes showed a negative correlation, while the left and combined testicular volumes showed a positive correlation with the subjects' height, body weight, BMI, and BSA for all the three formulae. Conclusion: The right testicular volume showed negative correlation, while the left and combined testicular volumes showed a positive correlation with the height, body weight, BSA, and BMI in Nigerian adults

Sonographic determination of spleen to left kidney ratio among Igbo school age children of south east Nigeria.

Background: Clinical determination of mild splenomegaly is notoriously inaccurate. Objectives:To determine sonographically the spleen to left kidney ratio according to age and somatometric parameters among school age children in a tropical environment. Methods: A cross sectional study and convenience sampling were done on 947 apparently healthy subjects (496 boys and 451 girls) aged 6 - 17 years at the University of Nigeria Medical Centre, Nsukka. The sonographic examination was per-formed on Shenzhen DP-1100 machine with 3.5 and 5 MHz convex transducers. Spleen and left kidney lengths were ob-tained using appropriate techniques. The weight and height of the subjects were obtained with the participants wearing light weight street clothes without shoes. Results:Measurement of spleen and left kidney lengths were reliable within and between sonographers. The spleen and left kidney lengths were not statistically different in boys and girls (p > 0.05). The spleen to left kidney ratio according to age and somatometric parameters is constant at about 1.13 with 1.3 as the upper limit of normal in the studied population. Conclusion: Sonography can be used to detect mild splenomegaly if the spleen to left kidney ratio is greater than 1.3 in the absence of renal disease among school age children