Case finding of hypertension at a secondary health care facility in south-west Nigeria

Background: The prevalence of hypertension is higher in Semi-urban areas than in rural areas. There is a rising prevalence of hypertension in developing countries. Significant independent association has been found between age, family history and prevalence of hypertension according to the literature. This study sought to determine the prevalence of hypertension at the State Hospital Oyo and provide evidence for routine checks of blood pressure (BP) for adult patients.Methods: A Cross-sectional study was conducted at the General Outpatient Clinic of the State Hospital Oyo. 350 adults between the ages of 18 and 70 years were recruited for the study. A total sampling technique was used to recruit consecutive patients until a sample size of 350 was achieved.Results: The prevalence of hypertension was 102/350 = 29%. Thirty (29.70%) of respondents who were 55 years and above had systolic hypertension while 24 (23.80%) had normal BP (x2 = 87.62, p-value = 0.0001). Majority (57.6%) of respondents who had tertiary education had normal blood pressure while 24 (20.3%) had systolic hypertension (x2 = 39.88, p-value = 0.0001). Twenty one (36.8%s) of respondents who were obese had systolic hypertension while 16 (28.1%) had normal blood pressure (x2 = 20.61 , p-value = 0.02). Thirteen (12.80%) of respondents who were 55 years and above had diastolic hypertension while a majority (58.40%) had normal BP (x2 = 33.40, p-value = 0.0001).Conclusions: Age, obesity and education were found to be risk factors for developing hypertension. However after adjusting for other variables, the predictor of risk of developing hypertension was age of respondents.Keywords: Obesity, Age, Prevalence, Hypertensio

Litter size, parity and sex effects on weaning and post weaning growth of pigs

Pig breeding has been mostly affected by number of piglets that survived to market age with regards to their productivity and fitness traits. This study investigated the influence of sex, parity and litter size on three growth performance characteristics (weaning weight, total weight gain and average daily gain of piglets) at the weaning and post-weaning period of piglets. The 43 piglets investigated are from the cross of Camborough and Landrace breeds, comprising 25 male and 18 female piglets, from three different parities and five unique litter sizes. Measurements of body weight of the piglets were taken immediately at weaning and consistently for additional 12 weeks on a regular weekly basis. The piglets were tagged with an ID and restrained for the measurement, which was recorded against each piglet ID. All measurements were done with a digital hanging balance sensitive to 0.00g, whereby the piglets were placed in bags and hung for weighing. Data collected were recorded on excel worksheets and validated for precision and accuracy. Preliminary descriptive statistics was done to check the data for normality, and indices (total weight gain and average daily gain) were computed from the measured weekly values. The values ranged between 3.55kg-8.35kg, 6.90kg-18.45kg and 0.08kg-0.22kg respectively for weaning weight, total weight gain and average daily gain. Sex did not exert significant (P>0.05) influence on any of the three characteristics studied, while parity only significantly (P<0.05) impacted weaning weight but did not influence the other two parameters (total weight gain and average daily gain). However, litter size significantly affected the three parameters investigated with the largest influence recorded on weaning weight (61.1%). The relationship between weaning weight and subsequent weekly weights were mostly positive (direct) and significant, with the exception of Week 1 post weaning that was negative. The study revealed that piglets from small to moderate litter sizes tend to have higher post weaning weight