Prevalence, pattern and determinants of dating violence among young persons in Benin City, Edo State

Background: Dating violence (DV) and its negative effects are a present public health issue of concern. The study was carried out to evaluate the prevalence, pattern and determinants of DV among young persons in Benin City.Methods: A descriptive cross-sectional study was conducted in Benin City, Edo State among young persons aged 15-24years. Two-stage sampling technique was used to select the respondents. The data was obtained from a pre-tested self-administered questionnaire adapted from WHO multi-country survey on domestic violence. Data was analysed using IBM SPSS version 22.0. The level of significance was p < 0.05.Results: A total of 750 respondents with mean age 20.65 ± 2.01 years participated in the study. The lifetime and one-year prevalence of DV was 396 (52.3%) and 354 (47.2%), respectively. A higher proportion of respondents suffered psychological violence with the lifetime and one-year prevalence of 339 (45.2%) and 294 (39.2%), respectively. Significant determinants of DV were age (p = 0.009), aggressive behavior (p = 0.005) and risky sexual behavior (p = 0.001)Conclusion: The prevalence of DV was high among the respondents. Preventive DV interventions such as health education and peer counselling for this age group is advocated.Keywords: Dating Violence; Prevalence; Pattern; Determinants; Young person

Urethral catheterization:The need for adequate undergraduate exposure

Introduction: Urethral catheterization is one of the basic skills expected of any intern. This is an important procedure which if not properly learnt and done leads to various complications. Objectives: To assess the knowledge and practice of urethral catheterization among new interns in University of Benin Teaching Hospital as a measure of their undergraduate exposure to the procedure. Subjects and methods: The study was carried out by administering questionnaire to all newly recruited house officers in the hospital. The component of the questionnaire included questions on knowledge of urethral catheterization procedure and precautionary methods taken while carrying out the procedure. Also assessed was the need for the demonstration of this procedure to newly recruited house officers. Permission for this study was obtained from the hospitals ethical committee. The result of the study was analysed using SPSS package. Results: There were 60 respondents who all graduated from medical schools in Nigeria except 2 Nigerian European graduates. All were able to define urethral catheterization. Forty percent had formal demonstration of urethral catheterization procedure during their undergraduate years. All the respondents observed urethral catheterization as undergraduates. About 33.3% did not perform the procedure as undergraduates while only 6.7% passed more than 10 urethral catheters. A total of 65.8% were able to describe the steps involved in urethral catheterization while only 20% used appropriate lubricant. Of the respondents 91.7% could list the possible complications of catheterization while 83.3% indicated that there is need for practical demonstration of urethral catheterization procedure during internship period. Conclusion: Newly recruited interns have poor practical exposure to urethral catheterization. Efforts should be made to improve the quality of supervised training given to medical undergraduates so as to avoid complications that could arise if this procedure is not properly done when they qualify

Neutrophil and lymphocyte function in male subjects with prostate cancer in Edo State, Nigeria

This study was to ascertain the absolute neutrophil and lymphocyte count and functions in male subjects with prostate cancer. Subjects with clinical evidence of prostate cancer were recruited for this study and classified based on drug administration for 12 weeks (subjects on drug therapy and those not on drug therapies). Neutrophil function using Nitroblue Tetrazolium dye reduction, Lymphocyte transformation (%) using mitogens (concanavalin A and phytohaemagglutinin (PHA), CD4+ count (cells/μl) using cyflow counter, Total white blood cell count (x 109/L), Absolute lymphocyte count (x 109/L), and Absolute neutrophil count (x 109/L) were used as markers of immune function. Neutrophil function, percentage lymphocyte transformation using phytohaemagglutinin and concanavallin A in prostate cancer subjects were significantly lower (P=0.000) when compared with values obtained from the control group. They were also significantly lower (P=0.000) in prostate cancer subjects on drug therapy compared with those not on therapy. This study shows reduced Neutrophil function and lymphocyte transformation in prostate cancer subjects, indicating possible impairment of this arm of the immune system in prostate cancer and may be the evasion mechanism adopted by cancer cells to thrive