Age at menarche and the menstrual pattern of secondary school adolescents in northwest Ethiopia

<p>Abstract</p> <p>Background</p> <p>Population studies on normal and dysfunctional characteristics of menstrual cycles are scarce in Ethiopia. In addition variability in menarcheal age and menstrual characteristics are common. Knowledge on this variability is necessary for patient education and to guide clinical evaluation.</p> <p>Methods</p> <p>A cross sectional study was conducted in two small towns called Dabat and Kola Diba, northwest Ethiopia between April and May 2007. Systematic sampling method was used to select 622 school girls from two secondary schools. A pretested questionnaire prepared in Amharic was used to gather data. Selected girls cooperated in answering the questionnaire in their classrooms under the supervision of the research team. Only 612 of the adolescent females were included in the final analysis, of which 305 were from Koladiba High School and 307 from Dabat.</p> <p>Results</p> <p>The age of the study subjects ranges between 14 and 19 with a mean (standard deviation) of 16.9 ± 1 years. About 92.2% had attained menarche by the time the survey was conducted. The probit analysis of the <it>status quo </it>data yielded a median (CI) age at menarche of 14.8 (13.9-15.3) years. The average age at menarche by recall method was 15.8 ± 1 years. The mean age at menarche was 0.3 years younger for urban females compared with rural ones (p < 0.001). A cycle length between 21 and 35 days was observed in 70.3% of the girls. The mean duration of flow was 4 ± 1.3 days with a range of 2-7 days. The menstrual cycles were irregular in 42.8% of the subjects. The overall prevalence of dysmenorrhoea was 72% among these subjects. Premenstrual symptoms were present in 435 of the females (75.4%). The leading sources of menarcheal information to the adolescents were mothers (39.7%), followed by their friends (26.6%) and teachers (21.8%).</p> <p>Conclusion</p> <p>In this study age of menarche was found to be delayed which is even higher than the findings indicated similar studies conducted in Ethiopia and other African countries. A significant number of students complain of abnormal menstrual cycle, dysmenorrhoea and premenstrual symptoms which call for appropriate counselling and management.</p

Growth status and menarcheal age among adolescent school girls in Wannune, Benue State, Nigeria

<p>Abstract</p> <p>Background</p> <p>Menarcheal age is a sensitive indicator of environmental conditions during childhood. The aim of study is to determine the age at menarche and growth status in adolescents in a rural area of Tarka, Wannune, Nigeria.</p> <p>Methods</p> <p>Data on 722 female students (aged 12-18 years) were collected in February 2009. Height and weight were measured. Body mass index (BMI; kg m^-2) was used as an index of relative weight.</p> <p>Results</p> <p>Mean and median menarcheal age calculated by probit analysis were 13.02 (SD 3.0) (95% CI: 13.02-13.07), and age 13.00 (SD 2.8) (95% CI: 12.98-13.04), respectively. Girls who reach menarche are significantly heavier and taller with higher BMIs than those of their pre-menarcheal peers.</p> <p>Conclusion</p> <p>The age of menarche is probably still declining in Nigeria. Although BMI is an important factor in the onset of menstruation, some other unmeasured environmental variables may be implicated in this population.</p

Ileostomy in the Management of Ileocutaneous Fistula - A Case Report

We report the case of a 26 year old retroviral positive patient that presented with a postoperative small bowel fistula and acute renal failure that was managed succesfully with a defunctioning ileostomy

Conservative breast management of breast cancer in the Niger Delta; early report of nine cases

Background: Conservative breast management (CBM) has become the standard of care for early breast cancer especially in developed countries. However it’s utilization in Nigeria, a developing country is greatly limited even in early cases despite international clinical trials confirming equivalent survivals for CBM and mastectomy.Setting: Central hospital Warri, Delta state university teaching hospital.Nature of Study: DescriptiveSubjects: Nine cases of early breast cancer from thirty seven breast cancer cases seen in the Authors practice from 2004 to 2011.Clinical Findings: The patients ages ranged between 28-43 years, mean 36.8years. Reported duration of breast lump ranged between 3-18 months, mean 6.6 months. Tumour size ranged between 0.5-8cm, mean size 4cm. There was clinical axillary involvement in six cases. None showed clinical evidence of systemic dissemination. Histology showed invasive ductal carcinoma in six cases, one case of ductal carcinoma-in-situ and two cases of invasive lobular carcinoma. Negative margins were confirmed histologically in seven cases. Two re-excisions were required in three cases, one re-excision in two cases. One case undergoing conserving breast surgery opted for a mastectomy with mastectomy specimen showing no evidence of tumour. Anthracycline based chemotherapy adjuvant with sequential taxane therapy in some cases was valuable in achieving negative margins. Radiotherapy has been administered in seven cases with two cases on cue for radiotherapy. Local recurrence or systemic dissemination has not been noted in all the cases at 7 months to 7 years post diagnosis duration, mean duration 3.2 years.Conclusion: Despite hurdles encountered in managing breast cancer in a developing country, conservative breast management for early stage breast cancer can be successfully utilized in a developing country

Breast Examination Practices among Nursing Students in Warri, Delta State

Objective: To ascertain influencing factors and breast examination practices among student nurses in Warri, Delta state. Design: Cross-sectional survey.Setting: State School of Nursing, Warri, Delta State. Subjects: Two hundred and ninety six student nurses attending the school in 2010 with exclusion of introductory students.Results: Self breast examination was practiced by four-fifths(79.39%) of respondents; of the self breast examination practitioners, 88.52% had a monthly self breast exam. Clinical breast examination had been utilized by one-sixth (17.35%) of respondents. Self perception of proficiency at self breast examination was agreed to by four-fifths(82.35%) of respondents. About a third (21.6%) knew a family member or friend with breast cancer while a fourth (26.71%) had breast complaints in the past requiring Physician consultation. A previous breast procedure was admitted to by a fourth(24.01%) of respondents. There was a strong positive association between self breast examination and previous breast procedure,

An Audit Of Open Breast Biopsies In Two Hospitals In The Niger Delta

Context Biopsies provide histological diagnosis and as such may guide subsequent management of breast lumps. Regular audit of such biopsies are necessary to document epidemiological pattern of the histological diagnosis within a population. Objective To review the histological diagnoses of breast biopsies in two referral centres in the Niger Delta region of Nigeria. Methodology This is a descriptive analysis of retrospective data obtained from the Central Hospital Warri and the University of Benin Teaching Hospital, Benin City, all in the Niger-Delta region of Nigeria between 2005 and 2010. Results Data on 367 biopsies were analysed. Patients with benign diagnoses aged in range between 14 and 48 years and those with malignant conditions between 20 and 85 years. Fibroadenoma was the commonest histological diagnosis (36.0%) with a mean age at diagnosis of 22.9 5.5 years. Just one case of fibroadenoma was recorded beyond 36 years. years. Malignancies were seen in 29.4% of biopsies with Invasive ductal carcinoma being the dominant histological type, 89.8%. The mean age at diagnosis of breast cancer was 46.0 12.1 years. Incidence of malignant findings ranged from less than 1 in 10 biopsies below 30 years, 1 in 2 biopsies at the 31-35 years age range to nearly unit in those 56 years and above. Conclusion Fibroadenoma is the commonest breast biopsy finding in the referral centres in the Niger Delta. Breast cancer occurs commonly among premenopausal women.Key words: Breast, Biopsy, Fibroadenoma, Invasive ductal carcinoma

Postpartum Sexual Abstinence and Breastfeeding Pattern in Sagamu, Nigeria

This was a prospective study involving 371 mothers. The mean age of the mothers was 27.5 (.3.6) years with a mean years at school (Educational years) of 11.3 (2.9) years. All the mothers had previously breastfed at one of their infants for at least 6 months, while the mothers also breastfed their last child for an average (mean) of 10.3 (4.0) months. The overall mean of previous live births was 1.9 (0.8). In the first month postpartum, 84.6% of the mothers abstained from sexual intercourse, but by the 4th-5th month the proportion had dropped to 18.1%, with just 2.1% of the study population abstaining from sexual intercourse at 11-15 months post-partum. Forty seven (13.5%), 30 (8.6% ) and 3 (0.9 % ) mothers in social classes 2,3 and 1 respectively have resumed sexual intercourse at 4-5 months, while only 12(3.4%) and 4(1.1%) in social classes 2 and 3 respectively continued with sexual intercourse at 11-15 months. More mothers resumed sexual intercourse from 1 to 15 months post-partum when they breast fed for 6-10 minutes and 11-15 minutes than those who breast fed for 1-5 minutes, 16-20 minutes and 21-25 minutes. Also more mothers within the 25-29 years age group resumed sexual intercourse from the first month to the fifteenth month post-partum than mothers in the other age groupsKeywords: Postpartum, Sexual, Abstinence, Breastfeeding, Sexually Transmitted InfectionsAfrican Journal of Reproductive Health Vol. 12 (1) 2008: pp. 96-10