Influence of knowledge of spousal fertility cycles on male reproductive health participation in Ibadan Metropolis, Nigeria

Despite the established roles and influence of men on women‟s uptake and utilization of reproductive health care interventions, the degree of involvement with intimate issues within the household which could help to understand male involvement and support remains an under-researched topic. The aim of this study was to investigate the degree of involvement at the family level of men within sub-urban communities of Ibadan in South-West Nigeria. A cross sectional survey design was conducted among 380 men selected from sub-urban communities in Ibadan, Oyo State using multi-stage sampling. Data was obtained using pre-tested, semi-structured, interviewer administered questionnaires. Data were analysed using descriptive statistics, bivariate analysis and logistic regression with level of significance set at 5%. Mean age of respondents was 41.1 ± 7.6 years. Men who were knowledgeable of spouse‟s menstrual cycles and ovulation dates were significantly more likely to have supported some form of public health intervention before (p<0.001). Age over 30, above secondary education, and men aware of menstrual dates of spouse were significant predictors of reproductive health interventions. Men who were aware of menstrual cycles of spouse were 96.6% more likely to be supportive or involved in reproductive health matters compared to those who were not (OR =0.034; 95% CI = 0.02 - 0.07; p<0.001). Involvement of men at family level as demonstrated in this study serves to influence and explain the level of involvement with reproductive health. Further research investigating other proximal factors that influence male participation is recommended.Keywords: reproductive health, health disparities, male involvement, menstrual cycle, ovulatory cycles, fertilit

Gender variation in self-reported likelihood of HIV infection in comparison with HIV test results in rural and urban Nigeria

<p>Abstract</p> <p>Background</p> <p>Behaviour change which is highly influenced by risk perception is a major challenge that HIV prevention efforts need to confront. In this study, we examined the validity of self-reported likelihood of HIV infection among rural and urban reproductive age group Nigerians.</p> <p>Methods</p> <p>This is a cross-sectional study of a nationally representative sample of Nigerians. We investigated the concordance between self-reported likelihood of HIV and actual results of HIV test. Multivariate logistic regression analysis was used to assess whether selected respondents' characteristics affect the validity of self-reports.</p> <p>Results</p> <p>The HIV prevalence in the urban population was 3.8% (3.1% among males and 4.6% among females) and 3.5% in the rural areas (3.4% among males and 3.7% among females). Almost all the respondents who claimed they have high chances of being infected with HIV actually tested negative (91.6% in urban and 97.9% in rural areas). In contrast, only 8.5% in urban areas and 2.1% in rural areas, of those who claimed high chances of been HIV infected were actually HIV positive. About 2.9% and 4.3% from urban and rural areas respectively tested positive although they claimed very low chances of HIV infection. Age, gender, education and residence are factors associated with validity of respondents' self-perceived risk of HIV infection.</p> <p>Conclusion</p> <p>Self-perceived HIV risk is poorly sensitive and moderately specific in the prediction of HIV status. There are differences in the validity of self-perceived risk of HIV across rural and urban populations.</p

Response of Broiler Chickens in the Starter and Finisher Phases to 3 Sources of Microbial Phytase

A broiler chicken study was conducted for 42 D to evaluate their responses to 3 commercially available microbial phytases. Growth performance, nutrient digestibility, and bone mineralization at days 21 and 42 posthatching were used as parameters of evaluation. The study was a randomized complete block design with 12 treatments, 8 replicate pens, and 25 birds per pen. Treatments included a positive control (PC), a negative control (NC) with crude protein (CP), nonphytate phosphorus (P), and calcium (Ca) reduced by 18, 1.5, and 1.8 g/kg, respectively; the NC + 4 levels of phytase A (250, 500, 750, 1,000 FTU/kg), 3 levels of phytase B (250, 500, 750 FTU/kg), and 3 levels of phytase C (500, 750, 1,000 FTU/kg). Broilers fed the NC diet had reduced (P \u3c 0.05) performance and digestibility measures at days 21 and 42 relative to the PC. All phytase enzymes improved (P \u3c 0.05) BW, gain, feed efficiency, and tibia ash weight and percent. Inclusion of phytase at the highest levels improved (P \u3c 0.05) tibia ash weight by an average of 18.5 and 22% at days 21 and 42, respectively, over the NC. Phytase A linearly improved (P \u3c 0.05) the apparent ileal digestibility (AID) of DM, Ca, P, copper, and sodium at day 21, and the AID of energy, nitrogen, and all amino acid (AA) digestibility at day 42 posthatching. Phytase B linearly (P \u3c 0.05) improved BW gain and feed efficiency of birds at day 21 and quadratically improved (P \u3c 0.05) the AID of nitrogen and all AA in birds at day 42. Supplementation of birds fed the NC with phytase C linearly improved (P \u3c 0.05) the BW gain, feed intake, feed efficiency, and AID of DM, energy, nitrogen, all AA, and all minerals except manganese at day 42. In conclusion, all 3 phytase products improved the growth performance, nutrient and mineral digestibility, and bone mineralization of birds fed diets deficient in nitrogen, Ca, and P similar to or more than birds fed diet adequate in P and CP

Re-telling the story of aminoglycoside ototoxicity: tales from sub-Saharan Africa

BackgroundAminoglycosides, such as Streptomycin, are cheap, potent antibiotics widely used Sub-Saharan Africa. However, aminoglycosides are the commonest cause of ototoxicity. The limited prospective epidemiological studies on aminoglycoside ototoxicity from Sub-Saharan Africa motivated this study to provide epidemiological information on Streptomycin-induced ototoxicity, identify risk factors and predictors of ototoxicity.MethodA longitudinal study of 153 adults receiving Streptomycin-based anti-tuberculous drugs was done. All participants underwent extended frequency audiometry and had normal hearing thresholds at baseline. Hearing thresholds were assessed weekly for 2 months, then monthly for the subsequent 6 months. Ototoxicity was determined using the ASHA criteria. Descriptive statistics were used to analyze socio-demographic variables. Ototoxicity incidence rate was calculated, and Kaplan–Meier estimate used to determine cumulative probability of ototoxicity. Chi-square test was done to determine parameters associated with ototoxicity and Cox regression models were used to choose the predictors of ototoxicity.ResultsAge of participants was 41.43 ± 12.66 years, with a male-to-female ratio of 1:0.6. Ototoxicity was found in 34.6% of the participants, giving an incidence of 17.26 per 1,000-person-week. The mean onset time to ototoxicity was 28.0 ± 0.47 weeks. By 28th week, risk of developing ototoxicity for respondents below 40 years of age was 0.29, and for those above 40 years was 0.77. At the end of the follow-up period, the overall probability of developing ototoxicity in the study population was 0.74. A significant difference in onset of ototoxicity was found between the age groups: the longest onset was seen in &lt;40 years, followed by 40–49 years, and shortest onset in ≥50 years. Hazard of ototoxicity was significantly higher in participants aged ≥50 years compared to participants aged ≤40 years (HR = 3.76, 95% CI = 1.84–7.65). The probability of ototoxicity at 40 g, 60 g and 80 g cumulative dose of Streptomycin was 0.08, 0.43 and 2.34, respectively. Age and cumulative dose were significant predictors of ototoxicity.ConclusionThe mean onset time to Streptomycin-induced ototoxicity was 28 weeks after commencement of therapy. Age and cumulative dose can reliably predict the onset of Streptomycin-induced ototoxicity. Medium to long term monitoring of hearing is advised for patients on aminoglycoside therapy

Clients' reasons for prenatal ultrasonography in Ibadan, South West of Nigeria

<p>Abstract</p> <p>Background</p> <p>Prenatal ultrasonography has remained a universal tool but little is known especially from developing countries on clients' reasons for desiring it. Then aim was to determine the reasons why pregnant women will desire a prenatal ultrasound.</p> <p>Methods</p> <p>It was a cross-sectional survey of consecutive 222 women at 2 different ultrasonography facilities in Ibadan, South-west Nigeria.</p> <p>Results</p> <p>The mean age of the respondents was 30.1 ± 4.5 years. The commonest reason for requesting for prenatal ultrasound scans was to check for fetal viability in 144 women (64.7%) of the respondents, followed by fetal gender determination in 50 women (22.6%. Other reasons were to check for number of fetuses, fetal age and placental location. Factors such as younger age, artisans profession and low level of education significantly influenced the decision to check for fetal viability on bivariate analysis but all were not significant on multivariate analysis. Concerning fetal gender determination, older age, Christianity, occupation and gravidity were significant on bivariate analysis, however, only gravidity and occupation remained significant independent predictor on logistic regression model. Women with less than 3 previous pregnancies were about 4 times more likely to request for fetal sex determination than women with more than 3 previous pregnancies, (OR 3.8 95%CI 1.52 – 9.44). The professionals were 7 times more likely than the artisans to request to find out about their fetal sex, (OR 7.0 95%CI 1.47 – 333.20).</p> <p>Conclusion</p> <p>This study shows that Nigerian pregnant women desired prenatal ultrasonography mostly for fetal viability, followed by fetal gender determination. These preferences were influenced by their biosocial variables.</p

Factors Associated with Treatment Success among Pulmonary Tuberculosis and HIV Co-infected Patients in Oyo State, South West-Nigeria

Background The co-existence of Tuberculosis (TB) and Human immunodeficiency Virus (HIV) is  known to increase morbidity and mortality in patients. The determinants of treatment success in TBHIV co-infection are not yet well studied. Such information can help optimise treatment and reduce morbidity and mortality.Objective To determine factors associated with antitubercular treatment success among TB I HIV coinfected patients.Methods A cross sectional study was carried out in fifty  three DOT clinics and treatment centres  using tuberculosis patient's records from January 2009 to December 2010 in Oyo state, Nigeria. The study population consisted of 7905 tuberculosis patients. Information on variables of interest were obtained with the use of data extraction forms. Chi-square and logistic regression were used to test the relationship between TB I HIV coinfection and socio-demographic variables, clinical characteristics and treatment success.Results Prevalence ofTB I HIV co-infection was found to be 14.2%. Patients with TB-HIV co-infection  were younger and more likely to be females. There were statistically significant association between treatment success and gender, marital status and patient point of care. After adjusting for other variables, it was found that patients receiving treatment in private facilities were independently less likely to be successfully treated compared with those receiving care in Public facilities. Female patients were also independently more likely to have better treatment outcome than male.Conclusion In addition to patients' point of care, gender of the patients can adversely impact on their treatment success. Efforts from the government to strengthening the private public mix, health education and media awareness on adherence to treatment to improve treatment success should be intensified in the country.Keywords: Tube rc ulosis; Human immunodeficiency virus, Directly observe therapy short-course;  Treatment success, Coinfection

Cross-ancestry GWAS meta-analysis identifies six breast cancer loci in African and European ancestry women

Our study describes breast cancer risk loci using a cross-ancestry GWAS approach. We first identify variants that are associated with breast cancer at P \u3c 0.05 from African ancestry GWAS meta-analysis (9241 cases and 10193 controls), then meta-analyze with European ancestry GWAS data (122977 cases and 105974 controls) from the Breast Cancer Association Consortium. The approach identifies four loci for overall breast cancer risk [1p13.3, 5q31.1, 15q24 (two independent signals), and 15q26.3] and two loci for estrogen receptor-negative disease (1q41 and 7q11.23) at genome-wide significance. Four of the index single nucleotide polymorphisms (SNPs) lie within introns of genes (KCNK2, C5orf56, SCAMP2, and SIN3A) and the other index SNPs are located close to GSTM4, AMPD2, CASTOR2, and RP11-168G16.2. Here we present risk loci with consistent direction of associations in African and European descendants. The study suggests that replication across multiple ancestry populations can help improve the understanding of breast cancer genetics and identify causal variants

Cross-ancestry GWAS meta-analysis identifies six breast cancer loci in African and European ancestry women.

Our study describes breast cancer risk loci using a cross-ancestry GWAS approach. We first identify variants that are associated with breast cancer at P < 0.05 from African ancestry GWAS meta-analysis (9241 cases and 10193 controls), then meta-analyze with European ancestry GWAS data (122977 cases and 105974 controls) from the Breast Cancer Association Consortium. The approach identifies four loci for overall breast cancer risk [1p13.3, 5q31.1, 15q24 (two independent signals), and 15q26.3] and two loci for estrogen receptor-negative disease (1q41 and 7q11.23) at genome-wide significance. Four of the index single nucleotide polymorphisms (SNPs) lie within introns of genes (KCNK2, C5orf56, SCAMP2, and SIN3A) and the other index SNPs are located close to GSTM4, AMPD2, CASTOR2, and RP11-168G16.2. Here we present risk loci with consistent direction of associations in African and European descendants. The study suggests that replication across multiple ancestry populations can help improve the understanding of breast cancer genetics and identify causal variants