Pressure ulcer stages among bed-ridden patients in Ahmadu Bello University Teaching Hospital (ABUTH), Zaria- Nigeria

This study was carried out to assesspressure ulcer stages among bed-ridden patients in Medical, Neurosurgical and Orthopaedic wards inAhmadu Bello University Teaching Hospital (ABUTH) Shika-Zaria. The main aim of this study is to determine the prevalence as well as the stages of pressure ulcers among bed-ridden patients and to assess the Nurses’ awareness and application of the awareness in the stage-based treatment of pressure ulcer in ABUTH. The descriptive survey design was adopted and data was collected with the help of questionnaire and observation checklist. A convenient sampling method was used among the bed-ridden patients and a single-stage cluster method was used among the nurses in the three wards. The study sample consisted of 51 Nurses whom answered a pre-established Questionnaire and 129 bed-ridden patients whom were observed using Observational Checklist. The Major Findings were as follows: the cumulative point prevalence of Pressure ulcer was noted to be 18.6% which is significantly high; Pressure ulcer stages were observed to be highest for Stages III (37.5%), and Stage IV (33.3%) which are the advanced stages, and then low in Stage II (20.8%) and Stage I (8.3%). Furthermore, 96% of Nurses were observed to be aware of pressure ulcer stages and 82% apply their awareness in the stage-based treatment of pressure ulcer. In conclusion, there was a high prevalence of pressure ulcer among bed-ridden patients majority of which were the advanced stage of the condition. Therefore it is recommended that, use of a risk assessment tool such as theBraden Scale on admission will identify if the client has pressure ulcer or not, and if they do, at which stage, health care professionals should be more informed about secondary conditions that may occur in the course of patient’s stay in the hospital rather than emphasis only on primary condition that warranted admission, and patient’s relatives should be informed about the risk factors for the development of pressure ulcers since they are also fully involved in the care

Coexistence of Kaposi sarcoma and Molluscum contagiosum on the same site in a HIV-AIDS patient: A very rare occurrence

Introduction: There have been numerous reported opportunistic infections among HIV/AIDS patients. However, coexistence of Kaposi sarcoma and Molluscum contagiosum on the same site is a rare finding. Case presentation: A 37-year-old man poorly adherent to antiretroviral therapy presented with Molluscum contagiosum and Kaposi sarcoma occurring simultaneously on numerous skin lesions around mid-2017 at Usmanu Danfodiyo University Teaching Hospital, Sokoto State, Nigeria. Management and outcome: The patient was counselled and re-initiated on a second-line highly active antiretroviral therapy regimen. The patient’s lesions resolved three months later. Discussion: The case is presented to improve the index of suspicion among clinicians and pathologists on such rare occurrences

Cost-Effectiveness of Alternative Models of Community Health Workers for promotion of Maternal, Newborn and Child Health in Northern Nigeria

Background: Community health workers (CHWs) have proven to be successful in mobilizing rural populations to utilize primary health services where they can be supported by skilled health workers. This study assessed the cost-effectiveness of three CHW models implemented in northern Nigeria. Method: Using a quasi-experimental design, we compare the costs and health outcomes for communities where CHW models were implemented versus those where no CHW models were implemented. The three CHW models were Community Volunteer (CV), Nigeria Subsidy Reinvestment and Empowerment Programme for Maternal and Child Health Village Health Worker (VHW), and the Junior Community Health Extension Worker providing community based service delivery (JCHEW-CBSD). The unit costs, consultation patterns, benefit-cost ratios, and cost-effectiveness ratios were calculated for the three CHW models. Results: Compared to the CVs, the VHWs and the JCHEW-CBSDs had the highest levels of interactions in the community, each helping to educate 120-130 pregnant women each year. JCHEW-CBSDs made the most referrals for antenatal care (220) and facility births (122); however, women who interacted with the VHWs increased their antenatal care visits the most, with 92% of the women having made at least one and 70% having made 4+ ANC visits. The unit cost of the CVs was lowest, compared to the other two models, at $127 versus$3176 for the VHW model and $4443 for the JCHEWCBSD model. The outcomes per unit cost ratios were highest for the VHW model. For every$1000 invested in the VHW, there were 54 ANC 4+ visits and 95.9 deliveries attended by a skilled birth attendant. The Incremental Cost-Effectiveness Ratios for the VHW model were also lower than for the JCHEW-CBSD model, ranging from a low of an additional $25 per incremental ANC visits to$152 for increments in attended deliveries, the latter amount three times lower than for the JCHEW-CBSD model. Conclusion: This cost-effectiveness study of CHW models in Northern Nigeria shows that the SURE-P VHW model was most cost-effective. The VHW model, an enhanced volunteer model, promises the greatest return on investment if scaled up in northern Nigeria and settings with similar health care delivery contexts

Challenges of Immunization Coverage among a Semi-Nomadic Population in Kano State, North West Nigeria

Nigeria has been reported to be off track in achieving the 4th Millennium Development Goal (Reducing Child Mortality) due to poor health indicators such a

Determination of suitable field workdays for tillage operations at selected locations of Kaduna State, Nigeria

Suitable field workdays for agricultural machine operations (ploughing, harrowing and ridging) of some selected areas of Kaduna State in Nigeria were determined using soil moisture level and rainfall criteria. These involved the development of soil moisture budget and establishment of tractability criteria for each soil types assessed. Thirty (30) years meteorological information of these areas were collected from the Institute for Agricultural Research ABU, Zaria and total of 200 soil samples were collected from 20 different farm lands and analyzed. The soil particle sizes, bulk densities, soil moistures level at field capacity and plastic limits were determined and the soil moisture limits were used to set the tractability criteria for each soil types. The information obtained was used to develop a computer based programme to monitor the variation in the moisture level. The estimated soil moisture levels and rainfall amount were compared with the tractability criteria to segregate the tractable and non-tractable soil moisture determining suitable and non-suitable workdays respectively. Out of the annual crop growing season of 214 days (from April to October) considered in this study, the sandy-clay-loam soils had the highest machinery suitable field workdays of 76 (35.51%) days for tillage operations (ploughing, harrowing and ridging). The clay soil had the least available machinery tillage workdays of 49 (23.00%) days. The sandy, sandy-loam, loam and clay-loam soils have 69 (32.24%), 63 (29.44%), 54 (25.23%) and 50 (23.36%) suitable workdays respectively

Crop water stress of tomato as affected by irrigation regimes

A field experiment was conducted at the Irrigation Research Station, Kadawa Kano State, Nigeria (located 11o 30’ N, 08o 30’ E and 486 m above mean sea level) during 2012/2013 dry season to evaluate crop water stress index of tomato (lycopersicon enculentum; UC82B) as affected by irrigation regimes. The experiment consisted of four levels of irrigation water application depth of 100%, 75%, 50% and 25% replacement of moisture depleted and three irrigation intervals (7, 14 and 21 days) combined in Randomized Complete Block Design in a Split plot arrangement and laid as treatments in plots (3 m x 3 m basin) and replicated three times. Irrigation water was applied to each basin using a calibrated PVC pipe. The soil moisture was monitored throughout the crop growing season with theta probe. The crop canopy temperature (Tc) in the experimental plots was measured with a portable hand-held infrared thermometer. The dry and wet bulb temperatures were measured with an aspirated psychrometer in the open area adjacent to the experimental plots. The mean air temperature (Ta) was determined from the average of the dry bulb temperature readings during the measurement period. The mean vapor pressure deficit (VPD) was computed as the average of the calculated instantaneous VPDs, using the corresponding instantaneous wet and dry bulb temperatures. The Crop water stress index increases with decrease in percentage of moisture depletion replacement from 100% to 25% and increase in the irrigation interval from 7 days to 21 days. The most stressed tomato was at 25% replacement of moisture depleted in 21 days (I21D-25%) with stress index of 1.000 and the fully watered (none stressed) tomato was when irrigated fully at 7 days (I7D-100%) with stress index of 0.003. Hence, a tomato can give a best yield and optimum water management with no stress under high water table condition, when irrigated at 7 days with 25% replacement of its moisture depleted

Comparative Evaluation of Waste Cooking Oil and Waste Engine Oil Rejuvenated Asphalt Concrete Mixtures

In road construction, different types of waste oil have been recommended to overcome the stiffening effect of reclaimed asphalt pavement content. However, the selection of an effective rejuvenator based on a comparative study can lead to using the resources more efficiently. In this study, waste cooking oil and waste engine oil are used to rejuvenate three different percentages (30%, 40%, and 50%) of reclaimed asphalt pavement following the current maximum industrial adaptability. The waste oil rejuvenated mixtures are compared to the fresh mixture, and mixtures rejuvenated with commercial rejuvenator. The moisture sensitivity, indirect tensile strength, and resilient modulus of the various asphalt mixtures are analyzed. Based on the statistical analyses and overall ranking, it is concluded that 7% of waste engine oil performs better till 40% of reclaimed asphalt pavement, whereas 13% of waste cooking oil can be used till 50% of reclaimed asphalt pavement.Other Information Published in: Arabian Journal for Science and Engineering License: https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0See article on publisher's website: http://dx.doi.org/10.1007/s13369-020-04523-5</p