Psychological distress and symptoms among patients attending sexually transmitted infections clinic in Lagos, Nigeria

Background: The study was carried out to investigate the manifestations of psychological distress and symptoms among individuals receiving treatment for sexually transmitted diseases and to compare them with individuals who were not suffering from sexually transmitted diseases.Methods: Patients attending the sexually transmitted disease clinic of the Lagos State University Teaching Hospital, Ikeja, Lagos were recruited for this study; while the comparison group (n=50) was made up of participants attending the outpatient clinic of the University of Lagos Medical Centre, Akoka, Lagos. The participants completed the Symptoms Distress Checklist-90 (SLC-90) and Psychophysiological Symptoms Checklist (PSC).Results: The findings showed that 80% were males. The ages of the respondents ranged from 22 to 52 years, with a mean of 31.4 years. The participants in the study group obtained higher mean scores on interpersonal sensitivity (C), depression (D), anxiety (E) and hostility (F). The participants in the study group also had higher mean score in the PSC than those in the control group. Significant differences were found in SLC-(B) obsessive-compulsive, (E) anxiety and (F) Hostility. Of the total participants, 15 (30%) of the study group had previous STI infections when compared to 3 (6%) of the comparison group.Conclusion: It is suggested that clinicians running the sexually transmitted diseases should screen their patients for psychological disturbances and also work with mental health experts to provide psychological services for identified patients suffering from psychological distress among those attending the STI clinic.Keywords: Psychological reactions, sexually transmitted infections, Lagos, Nigeri

Rebuilding the National Health Service: How can the new procurement methods be enhanced to achieve better value for money for the public sector: Private Finance Initiative (PFI) and Procure 21

Tony Blair has described investment in the National Health Service as "genuine opportunity to rebuild the NHS for the 21st Century". Clearly the construction industry has crucial part to play. But what does the NHS client want from the sector And how do those involved in the projects feel about working under PFI and ProCure21 in terms of Value for Money BSJ, September 2004 . The National Health Service is the United Kingdom's largest construction client and will continue to be so for years to come. But it doesn't present a single face to the industry. Different NHS Trusts work in very diverse ways when it comes to procurement of new buildings and refurbishment work. Peter Woolliscroft, head of construction for NHS Estates, believes that in some cases, the Trust have demonstrated that the NHS can be very good client: 'The NHS client is becoming a very sophisticated client to the construction industry in general. Because the industry itself in becoming more sophisticated in its innovation and bringing to the client base a far better and more cost-effective way of doing what it does that it used to do. A lot of this has been driven out of Latham and Egan and such as this some of it is due to natural evolution to be honest" BSJ, September 2004 . This research aimed to compare, for NHS projects, which of the two main recent procurement initiatives viz PFI and Procure 21 is giving the public sector the better Value for Money, and why, and how either could be improved. Value for Money is not simply achieved through specification of efficient products, nor does it mean that each area of the building is efficient in its own right but the whole product achieves synergy. From the two case studies, Queen Alexandra Hospital PFI , Portsmouth and Elyn Lodge at St Helens Hospital Procure 21 , Liverpool, the outcome of the research shows that much more can be done to enhance the Value for Money from the two procurements methods (options) which will benefit the NHS client and ultimately to the benefit of the wider industry and future generations it will serve. Key words: PFI, Procure 21, Value for Money (VFM), Partnering, Teamworking, Innovation and Commitment

Longitudinal and Cross Sectional Mix Data Approach to Impact Assessment: A Case Study of Community Based Natural Resource Management Programme, Nigeria

The study employed longitudinal and cross-sectional mix data approach, “before and after”, “with and without” technique in assessing the impact of IFAD Assisted Community Based Natural Resource Management Programme on the socio-economic livelihood, including agricultural productivity, nutrition and job creation potentials of the beneficiaries. Multi-stage sampling was employed to elicit responses from 1,928 households in 64 communities covering 9 participating states in the Niger-Delta Region of Nigeria. The Component Index Analysis, Productivity Index and Double Differencing techniques were employed for data analysis.The Component Index Analysis revealed that even though beneficiaries were of better wealth standing compared to non-beneficiaries, inequalities were observed within the ranks of targeted beneficiaries. Also, direct enterprise productivity impact of programme on beneficiaries was 61.1%, 203.3% and 30.1% for crops, livestock and fisheries respectively. Programme impact on food consumed was 21.4% while 84.95% of the beneficiaries observed improved nutrition compared to 67.7% under control group. About 47,454 jobs were created with crop sub-sector accounting for about 75% of the total. The study concluded that the programme impacted on the socio-economic livelihood of beneficiaries, although, impact varied within the rank and file of beneficiaries.Key Words: Impact, Livelihood, Productivity, Nutrition, Job-creation, Socio-economi

Self-reported Barriers to Treatment Engagement: Adolescent Perspectives from the National Comorbidity Survey-Adolescent Supplement (NCS-A)

The objective of this study was to assess youth self-reported treatment barriers in the past 12 months to obtain youth’s perspective on reasons they seek treatment, do not engage in treatment, or terminate treatment. The present study uses data from the National Comorbidity Survey-Adolescent Supplement (NCS-A), a nationally representative survey administered to youth ages 13–18 that was conducted between February 1, 2001 and January 30, 2004. A total of 10,123 youth participated in the NCS-A study and provided the information on which the current paper draws its data. Within the past 12 months over 63 % of youth reported seeking treatment to manage and cope with emotions. The greatest percentage of youth reported that they did not seek treatment because they wanted to handle the problem on their own (59.3 %). The greatest percentage of youth reported that treatment was terminated because they wanted to handle the problem on their own (57.5 %). Findings suggest professionals need to educate youth about the importance of professional treatment to increase engagement. If providers can motivate youth to see the value of treatment and help them understand that there can be positive outcomes, they may be less likely to terminate prematurely

Depression amongst healthcare workers in Maiduguri, north-eastern Nigeria

Objective: Very few studies reported the high prevalence of emotional reactions amongst healthcare workers, in sub-Saharan Africa. This study aimed to assess the prevalence of depression among health care workers in two tertiary health institutions in Maiduguri, north-Eastern Nigeria.Methods: In this comparative, cross-sectional study, we used a stratified sampling technique to recruit 370 healthcare workers (clinical and non-clinical staff) from university teaching hospital, and Federal Neuro-psychiatric Hospital, Maiduguri, Borno State, north-east Nigeria. The participants completed a semi-structured socio-demographic questionnaire and Beck Depression Inventory (BDI-II).Results: Twenty (10.7%) and 14 (7.6%) clinical and non-clinical health care workers, respectively had depression (÷2 = 1.096, df = 1, ñ = 0.295). The prevalence of depression in males and females were 7.8% and 26.9%, respectively. Gender had a significant association with depression (÷2 = 3.427, df = 1, ñ =0.043).Conclusion: For an effective healthcare delivery service, the psychological well-being of hospital workers must be improved. Hospital workers require skills on stress management techniques.Keywords: Depression, healthcare workers, Maiduguri, Nigeri

Military Medicine Interest Groups in U.S. Medical Schools

Medical student interest groups are organizations that help expose students to different medical specialties and fields of medicine while in medical school. Military medicine interest groups (MMIGs) are a particular type of interest group that spreads information about military medicine, fosters mentorship, and camaraderie between students and military faculty, and increases the opportunities for leadership while in medical school. Surveys were sent to all U.S. medical schools to determine how many schools had an MMIG. If a medical school had a group, a second survey was sent to the student leader to determine more information about how their group operated (such as type of participants, funding sources, activities, faculty involvement, military health care provider involvement, etc.). Fifty-six percent of U.S. medical schools who responded were found to have an MMIG and most participants were students in the Health Professions Scholarship Program. Information about military medicine was found to be the biggest impact of having a group at a medical school and student leaders expressed they wished to have more military health care provider involvement. The results of this study could help start MMIGs at other medical schools, as well as give ideas to current MMIGs on how other groups operate

Urea-Mediated Anomalous Diffusion in Supported Lipid Bilayers

Diffusion in biological membranes is seldom simply Brownian motion; instead, the rate of diffusion is dependent on the timescale of observation and so is often described as anomalous. In order to help better understand this phenomenon, model systems are needed where the anomalous subdiffusion of the lipid bilayer can be tuned and quantified. We recently demonstrated one such model by controlling the excluded area fraction in supported lipid bilayers (SLBs) through the incorporation of lipids derivatised with polyethylene glycol. Here we extend this work, using urea to induce anomalous subdiffusion in SLBs. By tuning incubation time and urea concentration, we produce DCPC bilayers that exhibit anomalous behaviour on the same scale observed in biological membranes

Military Medicine Interest Groups in U.S. Medical Schools

Medical student interest groups are organizations that help expose students to different medical specialties and fields of medicine while in medical school. Military medicine interest groups (MMIGs) are a particular type of interest group that spreads information about military medicine, fosters mentorship, and camaraderie between students and military faculty, and increases the opportunities for leadership while in medical school. Surveys were sent to all U.S. medical schools to determine how many schools had an MMIG. If a medical school had a group, a second survey was sent to the student leader to determine more information about how their group operated (such as type of participants, funding sources, activities, faculty involvement, military health care provider involvement, etc.). Fifty-six percent of U.S. medical schools who responded were found to have an MMIG and most participants were students in the Health Professions Scholarship Program. Information about military medicine was found to be the biggest impact of having a group at a medical school and student leaders expressed they wished to have more military health care provider involvement. The results of this study could help start MMIGs at other medical schools, as well as give ideas to current MMIGs on how other groups operate

Variability in interpretation of chest radiographs among Russian clinicians and implications for screening programmes: observational study.

OBJECTIVE: To determine variability in interpretation of chest radiographs among tuberculosis specialists, radiologists, and respiratory specialists. DESIGN: Observational study. SETTING: Tuberculosis and respiratory disease services, Samara region, Russian Federation. PARTICIPANTS: 101 clinicians involved in the diagnosis and management of pulmonary tuberculosis and respiratory diseases. MAIN OUTCOME MEASURES: Interobserver and intraobserver agreement on the interpretation of 50 digital chest radiographs, using a scale of poor to very good agreement (kappa coefficient: < or = 0.20 poor, 0.21-0.40 fair, 0.41-0.60 moderate, 0.61-0.80 good, and 0.81-1.00 very good). RESULTS: Agreement on the presence or absence of an abnormality was fair only (kappa = 0.380, 95% confidence interval 0.376 to 0.384), moderate for localisation of the abnormality (0.448, 0.444 to 0.452), and fair for a diagnosis of tuberculosis (0.387, 0.382 to 0.391). The highest levels of agreement were among radiologists. Level of experience (years of work in the specialty) influenced agreement on presence of abnormalities and cavities. Levels of intraobserver agreement were fair. CONCLUSIONS: Population screening for tuberculosis in Russia may be less than optimal owing to limited agreement on interpretation of chest radiographs, and may have implications for radiological screening programmes in other countries