Lifestyle and cardiovascular risk factors among hypertensives and the use of antihypertensive medication in Lagos, Nigeria

Background: The aim of the study was to determine the lifestyle and cardiovascular risk factors among hypertensives and the use of antihypertensive medication in Lagos, Nigeria.Methods: Two hundred and fifty consecutive patients who were attending the outpatients' clinic cardiology unit of the medical department of Lagos University Teaching Hospital, Lagos, Nigeria were recruited into the study. Self-administered questionnaire was used to collect data from the participants.Results: The mean age of the respondents was 53.9 +12.1 years. Forty-six percent were males and 54% females. Some of the participants indulged in unhealthy lifestyle such as daily smoking of cigarettes (5.0%) and alcohol consumption (10.8%). Some of the participants (45.3%) carry out physical exercises such as walking (71.0%). A large number of the participants (84.0%) believed that hypertension can be controlled. Half of the respondents (50%) had used medication for one to five years. Close to half of the participants (48.2%) stopped taking their medication because they experienced side effects in the past while 24.8% claimed they stopped their use of medication because they could not afford the drugs.Conclusion: There is a need for public health experts to carry out educational campaigns to increase awareness on the implications of negative lifestyle and cardiovascular risks factors of hypertension, compliance and complications of hypertension. Clinicians should also consider the financial status of their patients in prescribing antihypertensive drugs to enable affordability.Keywords: Lifestyle, cardiovascular, risk factors, hypertension, antihypertensive Lagos, Nigeria

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

Assessment of pre and postoperative psychiatric comorbidity among patients scheduled for elective cataract surgery in Lagos, Nigeria

Objective: Comorbid psychiatric disorders have been reported to be associated with pre and postoperative periods. Studies on pre and postoperative comorbid psychiatric disorders among ophthalmological patients are scanty in Nigeria and other sub-Saharan countries. This study was aimed at determining pre and postoperative comorbid psychiatric disorders among patients scheduled for elective cataract surgery in Lagos, Nigeria.Methods: Seventy-seven adult patients scheduled for elective cataract surgery at the ophthalmology clinic of the Lagos State University Teaching Hospital, Ikeja, Lagos, Nigeria were recruited and assessed 24 hours pre and 24 hours postoperatively for psychiatric morbidity by asking them to complete the twentieth version of the Self-rating Questionnaire and the Hospital Anxiety and Depression Scale.Results: The findings of this study showed that only 5.2% of the participants experience preoperative mental illness and anxiety respectively while the 9.1% experienced depression. Post-operative assessments revealed that none of the participants experienced any mental illness or depression apart from 1.3% who experienced anxiety postoperatively. There were no statistically significant findings between the sociodemographic variables and anxiety, depression and mental illness.Conclusions: The findings of this study indicated that there were comorbid psychiatric disorders among ophthalmological patients scheduled for cataract surgery in Lagos, Nigeria. Therefore, patients who are to undergo surgery should be screened for psychiatric morbidity. Likewise, adequate and appropriate surgical information should be given to patients to reduce associated comorbid psychiatric disorders.Keywords: Psychiatric morbidity, preoperative, postoperative, anxiety, depression, catarac

Specific psychiatric moridity among diabetics at a Nigerian General Hospital

Background: In Nigeria, with a rising incidence of diabetes mellitus (DM), there are no controlled studies of specific psychiatric morbidity among sufferers.Objective: To assess the prevalence of specific psychiatric disorders and general cognitive impairment in patients with diabetes mellitus.Method: Using Wing’s Present State Examination and the Mini-Mental State Examination, we assessed the prevalence of specific psychiatric disorders and cognitive impairment among 100DM patients attending an out-patient clinic, in comparison with a matched non-clinic sample; and examined the relationship between psychiatric morbidity andclinical variables.Results: They were predominantly males (66%), mean age 43.0 years, mean duration of illness, 7.7 years and in low level occupations. Only 11 of the patients had sexual dysfunction (11%) and psychiatric symptoms (31%). Psychiatric diagnosis (ICD-10) were, generalised anxiety (6%) and mild depressive disorder (4%). Two had subjective memory disturbance. Insulin-dependent patients had significantly more widespread psychiatric symptoms than the non-insulin dependent. Psychiatric symptomatology was significantly associated with low occupational status, duration of illness and sexual dysfunction.Conclusion: Health education, subsidising the cost of treatment, and physicians’ sensitivity to the emotional condition of patients, will help to relieve psychic distress and make for more adequate management

Study of some Anthropometric Parameters of Itsekiri and Okpe Ethnic Groups of Delta State, South-South Nigeria

This determines and compares the human physical variations in some selected anthropometric parameters among the Itsekiri and Okpe ethnic communities Delta, Nigeria. 1000 apparently healthy adult subjects comprising 250 males and 250 females from each of the communities, were randomly selected for this study. Using standard laboratory procedures, height, knee height, waist circumference, hip circumference, arm length, head length, head breadth, nasal length, and nasal breadth were measured while nasal index, waist/hip ratio and cephalic index were calculated using standard formulae. Results showed that the two ethnic groups presented typical nose (platyrrhine) and head (dolicocephaly) types for African populations. Except for nasal index (90.78 vs 92.05), the Itsekiris’ presented higher mean head length (18.45cm vs 18.29cm), head breadth (13.46cm vs 13.06cm), cephalic index (73.04 vs 71.84), nasal height(4.59cm vs 4.38cm), nasal breadth (4.14cm vs 4.06cm), waist circumference (80.75cm vs 77.09cm), hip circumference (94.64cm vs 92.05cm), waist-hip ratio (0.85 vs 0.83), height (169.06cm vs165.28cm), knee height (49.82cm vs 47.05cm) and arm length (38.93cm vs36.63cm) than Okpes. Overall, sexual dimorphism was observed in the ethnic groups, with males showing higher values than females (p<0.05). This data is recommended to anthropologists, forensic experts’ geneticists and medical practitioners who may find it very  useful.Keywords: Anthropometry, Nigeria, Parameters, Ethnic grou

Agama lizard: A potential biomarker of environmental heavy metal pollution assessment

In this study, the suitability of Agama lizard as a biomarker in assessing environmental pollution levels of arsenium (As), barium (Ba), cadmium (Cd), copper (Cu), manganese (Mn), lead (Pb) and zinc (Zn) was investigated. Samples of top soil and agama lizards were taken from five sites within a university community in Nigeria for the study. Soil samples, livers and kidneys from the lizards were subjected to wet acid digestion and levels of heavy metals in the digested samples were determined using an atomic absorption spectrophotometer (AAS). Results of the study showed that the levels of the metals ranged from Cd, 20.4 ± 2.6 ìg/g to Zn, 978.6 ± 2.2 ìg/g in soil; Cd, not detected to Zn, 42.2 ± 0.3 ìg/g in liver; As and Ba, not detected to 47.6 ± 1.0 ìg/g Zn in kidney. The inter matrices correlation coefficient values obtained for the heavy metals showed that the kidney of lizards would be more relevant in assessing soil levels of such heavy metals as As, Ba, Cd, Mn and Pb among others.Key words: Agama lizard, environmental pollution, soil, heavy metals, liver, kidney

HIV Non-Occupational Post-Exposure Prophylaxis Awareness Among Undergraduate Students of a Private University in South-West Nigeria

Objectives: The Human Immunodeficiency virus causes an infection of public health importance with about 71% of the global burden in Sub-Saharan Africa. In Nigeria, 3.2 million people are living with HIV, and 838,000 - 1.3 million of the cases are found among youths. Although Non- Occupational Human Immunodeficiency Virus (HIV) post-exposure prophylaxis (nPEP) is a safe and efficacious method of HIV prevention, it remains an underutilized prevention strategy in Nigeria.  This study aimed to determine the awareness level of nPEP after sexual and other non-occupational exposure to HIV among undergraduate students of a private University. Methods: A descriptive cross-sectional survey was conducted among 395 undergraduates’ students. Data was collected by pre-tested structured self-administered questionnaires. Data obtained from the study were analyzed using the IBM SPSS Statistics version 20 software program and Frequency distribution tables with percentages and cross-tables were used for data description. Results: About 42.8% were aware of nPEP. Most of the respondents 361 (91.4%) knew that PEP is to be given after HIV exposure risk following sexual intercourse. Although 79.5% of the respondents indicated that they will see their physician after unprotected sexual intercourse and other non-occupational exposure to HIV, the majority neither knows about nPEP initiation time, 247 (62.5%) nor its duration, 286 (72.4%). Conclusions: A low level of awareness was observed among our study participants, therefore, consistent health education and promotion of nPEP will improve its awareness, uptake, and possibly reduce the prevalence of HIV among our youths

Pediatric campylobacteriosis in northern Taiwan from 2003 to 2005

<p>Abstract</p> <p>Background</p> <p>There has been a marked increase in the incidence of, and concern regarding, human <it>Campylobacter jejuni </it>and <it>C. coli </it>infections worldwide during the last decade. As the highest infectious disease control apparatus in Taiwan, we aimed to describe the character of <it>Campylobacter </it>isolates from infected children, as well as basic information about the patients, from December 2003 to February 2005.</p> <p>Methods</p> <p>A total of 894 fecal specimens were collected by several clinics and hospitals from children who had diarrhea, followed by plating onto selective media. Drug susceptibility test of the isolates from these specimens were conducted by disc diffusion method and their serotypes were also studied using commercial antisera made in Japan.</p> <p>Results</p> <p>The isolation rate of <it>Campylobacter </it>during these 15 months was 6.8% and was higher in winter (11.1%) than in other seasons. <it>C. jejuni </it>was the most prevalent (95.1%) species in northern Taiwan, comparable to other developed countries. Among the 61 <it>Campylobacter </it>isolates, most were resistant to tetracycline (93.4%), nalidixic acid (91.8%), ciprofloxacin (90.2%), and ampicillin (85.5%). Erythromycin-resistant isolates represented 3.3% of all isolates, suggesting that this drug may be the first choice for treatment. The serotypes of the 61 isolates were demonstrated and only 41.4% were typable.</p> <p>Conclusion</p> <p>In this study, the Taiwan CDC provided an epidemiological analysis of <it>Campylobacter </it>infection, including the isolation rate, age, seasonal distribution, antimicrobial drug susceptibility patterns, and serotypes of the isolates from pediatric patients in northern Taiwan from 2003 to 2005.</p

Mortality following Campylobacter infection: a registry-based linkage study

BACKGROUND: Campylobacteriosis is one of the most commonly identified causes of bacterial diarrheal disease and a common cause of gastroenteritis in travellers from developed nations. Despite the widespread occurrence, there is little information on Campylobacter mortality. METHODS: Mortality among a cohort of Campylobacter cases were compared with the general population 0–1, 1–3, 3–12 and more than 12 month after the onset of the illness. The cases were sub-grouped according to if they had been infected domestically or abroad. RESULTS: The standardized mortality ratio for cases infected domestically was 2.9 (95% CI: 1.9–4.0) within the first month following the illness. The risk then gradually diminished and approached 1.0 after one year or more have passed since the illness. This initial excess risk was not attributable to any particular age group (such as the oldest). In contrast, for those infected abroad, a lower standardized mortality ratio 0.3 (95% CI: 0.04–0.8) was shown for the first month after diagnosis compared to what would be expected in the general population. CONCLUSION: Infection with Campylobacter is associated with an increased short-term risk of death among those who were infected domestically. On the contrary, for those infected abroad a lower than expected risk of death was evident. We suggest that the explanation behind this is a "healthy traveler effect" among imported cases, and effects of a more frail than average population among domestic cases

Regional risks and seasonality in travel-associated campylobacteriosis

BACKGOUND: The epidemiology of travel-associated campylobacteriosis is still largely unclear, and various known risk factors could only explain limited proportions of the recorded cases. METHODS: Using data from 28,704 notifications of travel-associated campylobacteriosis in Sweden 1997 to 2003 and travel patterns of 16,255 Swedish residents with overnight travel abroad in the same years, we analysed risks for travel-associated campylobacteriosis in 19 regions of the world, and looked into the seasonality of the disease in each of these regions. RESULTS: The highest risk was seen in returning travellers from the Indian subcontinent (1,253/100,000 travellers), and the lowest in travellers from the other Nordic countries (3/100,000 travellers). In Africa, large differences in risk between regions were noted, with 502 /100,000 in travellers from East Africa, compared to 76/100,00 from West Africa and 50/100,000 from Central Africa. A distinct seasonal pattern was seen in all temperate regions with peaks in the summer, while no or less distinct seasonality was seen in tropical regions. In travellers to the tropics, the highest risk was seen in children below the age of six. CONCLUSIONS: Data on infections in returning travellers together with good denominator data could provide comparable data on travel risks in various regions of the world