Cervical cancer: current knowledge, perception and associated factors among female undergraduate student in a Nigerian polytechnic

Background and Objective: Cervical cancer is a major public health problem and one of the leading causes of morbidity and mortality amongst the gynaecological cancers worldwide, especially in developing countries. Cervical cancer continues to persist in Nigeria like other developing countries despite the existence of interventions. This study was carried out to assess the knowledge and perception of female students of The Polytechnic, Ibadan about cervical cancer.Methods and Design: This was a cross-sectional descriptive study using a cluster sampling technique to select respondents. Sample of 420 was divided between the four (4) female hostels. Data was collected using self-administered semi-structured questionnaire and was analysed with SPSS® version 16. Bivariate analyses were conducted to identify factors associated with knowledge and perception about cervical cancer.Results: Of all the interviews conducted, 89.1% were aware that cervical cancer is a life threatening situation, and 67.4% of the respondents knew that cervical cancer is linked to the virus, Human Papilloma Virus (HPV). Majority recognized that smoking (90.2%), multiple sexual partners (75.7%), early onset of sexual intercourse (73.2%) are risk factors for cervical cancer. Most (85.7%) agreed it can be treated if detected early, while 78.8% agreed that screening for cancer of the cervix is necessary to detect cancer. Poor perception put women at high risk of cervical cancer (p < 0.05).Conclusion: Cervical cancer is a major health burden for women in sub-Saharan Africa, yet only three-fifth and half of the respondents had good knowledge and good perception of cervical cancer respectively. Understanding factors associated with women's perceived risk of cervical cancer could guide future educational and clinical interventions to increase knowledge, perception and cervical cancer screening.Keywords: Cervical cancer, knowledge, perception, female undergraduat

PREVALENCE OF HIV AND ASSOCIATED RISK FACTORS IN PATIENTS ATTENDING ACCIDENT AND EMERGENCY DEPARTMENT OF A TERTIARY HEALTH INSTITUTION IN SOUTH-WEST NIGERIA.

Background: HIV infection, a major health problem worldwide, has been reported to be prevalent in patients in Accident and Emergency department, thus presents an occupational hazard to health care workers (HCW) who careforthesepatients. Objective: The purpose of thisstudy wasto establish the prevalence of HIV and associated risk factors among patients attendingAccidentandEmergency departmentof Federal TeachingHospital(FETHI),Ido-Ekiti. Materials and Methods: This was a descriptive cross-sectional study. Data were collected using a pre-tested, coded questionnaire and blood samples. A total of 100 patients were recruited and studied. Human Immunodeficiency Virus(HIV) 1 and 2 screening was conducted on consecutive consented conscious patients using the STAT PAK™ (Chembio Diagnostic Systems Inc, USA) and Determine™ (Abbott Laboratories, IL, USA) kitsfor HIV 1 and 2. Data collected were entered into and analysed with SPSS 20 software (SPSS Inc., Chicago, IL,USA). Results: Out of 100 patients recruited for the study, males accounted for 49% while females accounted for 51%. Those positive for HIV were 2 (2.0%) while 98 (98.0%) were confirmed negative. Both that were positive forHIVwerefemales. The affectedage-groupswere31-40 years and51-60 years. Conclusion: A risk of exposure to HIV exists in HCW who care for these patients in our institution. Thus, all emergency health care workers need to practice universal barrier precautions in order to reduce the risk of exposure to HIV infection

Lifestyle Counselling and Blood Pressure Control among Hypertensive in a Primary Care Clinic; A Quasi-Experimental Study

Hypertension is a global health issue among the adult population with associated high morbidity and mortality rates. As the prevalence of hypertension increases in adult Nigerians, achieving target blood pressure (BP) control has become an importantmanagement challenge, especially with the adoption of western diet and lifestyle. Therefore, the aim of this study wasto determine the role of lifestyle counseling on BP control among hypertensives attending a general outpatient clinic at Federal Teaching Hospital, Ido-Ekiti. A Quasi-experimental study was performed on 322 adult patients (161 intheintervention group and 161 in the control group) with hypertension who had been on treatment for at least 3 months. Relevant data were collected using interviewer-administered semi-structured questionnaire. The 5As brief intervention for addressing health risk behaviour tool was used as a counseling guide only for the intervention group. The differences in the BP control between the intervention and control groups were statistically significant (p < 0.001) as more than two third of the intervention group 135(83.9%) had good BP control, compared to 68(42.2%) of the control group. Lifestyle counseling led to good BP control. Physicians will do well to counsel hypertensive patients on nutrition and lifestyle behaviour with a view to improving BP control in them

Burden of intimate partner violence in a Local Government Area, South-West, Nigeria- a cross sectional study of pregnant women

Background: Intimate Partner Violence (IPV) has become one of the most important reproductive and public health issue attracting global attention. Women may  experience violence at any point in their lives, but IPV during pregnancy is a  focused attack that puts not just one, but two lives at risk, the pregnant woman and the unborn foetus. The objective of this study was to ascertain the burden of intimate partner violence amongst pregnant women in Oyo East Local Government of Oyo State, Nigeria.Methods: This was a descriptive cross-sectional study. Three hundred and fifty  pregnant women aged 18-49 years were consecutively recruited from the sole secondary health care facility and 3 primary health care facilities randomly selected by balloting. A pre-tested semi-structured questionnaire adapted from the WHO Multi-Country Study on Women's Health and Domestic Violence was used to collect data. Data were analysed with SPSS version 16. Descriptive statistics, Chi square test and logistic regression were used to analyse the data at 0.05 significance level.Results: Majority of the respondents (72.0%) reported intimate partner violence,  while prevalence of 24.2% was obtained in the index pregnancy. Psychological  forms of intimate partner violence were the commonest and physical forms, the  least. The main types of physical violence experienced were slaps (72.0%), being hit (40.0%) and being kicked (34.7%). The main partner characteristics significantly associated with IPV included age 25-34 years, history of previous violent behaviour with other people and report of extra-marital affairs. Predictors of experience of physical IPV included: being in a polygamous family (OR= 0.3, 95% CI 0.1-0.8), being a skilled worker (OR= 7.2, 95% CI 1.9-27.4) and having a partner who abuse alcohol (OR=5.1, 95% CI 1.2-20.8).Conclusion: Intimate partner violence is common among pregnant women and is a threat to women's health

The prevalence of anxiety symptoms and associated factors among Nigerians newly posted for National Youth Service Corps programme in North-Western Nigeria

Objectives: This study was done to determine the prevalence of anxiety symptoms and assess the associated factors among new&nbsp; members of national youth service corps (NYSC) programme in North-Western Nigeria.Method: A clinic-based descriptive cross-sectional study with convenient sampling method using selfadministered questionnaires was done among 157, 2018 Batch-C, corps members at Dakingari orientation camp in Kebbi State, over a period of three weeks. The prevalence of anxiety symptoms was determined using anxiety subset of Hospital Anxiety and Depression scale. Data were analyzed with SPSS-16 andChi-square was used to assess the degree of association between anxiety symptoms and certain factors. Pvalue of less than 0.05 was considered statistically significant.Results: The prevalence of anxiety symptoms was 50.0% among the respondents. There was a significant association between the presence of anxiety symptoms and age of the respondents (P-value= 0.006).Conclusion: The high prevalence of anxiety symptoms among the new NYSC members suggests the need to take preventive measures such as incorporation of subjects on what should be expected during service year into the undergraduate learning curriculum. Doctors attending to youth corps members, especially when on camp, should routinely screen them for anxiety symptoms.&nbsp

Knowledge and Perceptions of Some Resident Doctors about COVID-19 in a Tertiary Hospital, North-Western Nigeria

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