Self-reported sleep parameters among secondary school teenagers in middle-belt Nigeria

Background: Available evidences seem to suggest increasing trend in sleep deficit among teenagers worldwide, and there is limited information on this among Nigerian teenagers. This study was carried out to determine the basic sleep schedule and sleep duration among schooling teenagers in Ilorin, Nigeria.Methods: This is a descriptive cross‑sectional study conducted among 20 selected public secondary schools in Ilorin, Nigeria. A multistage sampling technique was used to randomly select participating schools.Result: A total of 1033 students participated in the study; of these 47.3% were males and 51.7% females. Students mean age (standard deviation) was 15.3 ± 1.6 years with a range of 12–19 years. Majority (76.2%) of participants co‑share bed with at least one person and some (23.8%) slept alone in bed. The three leading reasons given for going to bed were: Tiredness ‑ 31.1%, completion of house assignment ‑ 20.5%, and parental directive ‑ 12.4%. 10% of teenagers do make regular phone calls at night and 5.5% surf internet and use computers at night. Regular habits of daytime sleepiness were reported by 8.2% of study participants. Students’ mean sleep duration during school days was 9.33 ± 2.29 h compared to 10.09 ± 1.32 h at weekend (P < 0.05). The duration of night time sleep was adequate (>9 h) in 41% of students; borderline (8–9 h) in 44.3% while 13.3% of the students had insufficient nighttime sleep duration (<8 h) P < 0.05.Conclusion: A substantial number of students had borderline nighttime sleep duration and so had potentials to transit into the problematic insufficient range. To prevent this, there is a need to educate schooling teenagers on the dangers associated with prolonged sleep insufficiency.Key words: Bedtime, schooling, sleep duration, teenagers, wake‑up‑tim

Intracardiac tumor: A risk factor for stroke in the young –A case report

Stroke occurs commonly in individuals above 65years, especially in the background of atherosclerosis and other risk factors. In young persons below 45 years it is a rare disorder with devastating sequelae on the affected individual. Presently there are few reports on the aetiology/risk factors for stroke in young adults in Nigeria. This is due to limited facility for thorough investigation; therefore management of such cases poses a diagnostic challenge. In this report we present a case of embolic stroke in a male undergraduate that began with two brief episodes of transient left sided weakness before a completed stroke four hours later. 2-D echocardiography showed that the likely source of emboli to be a non-pedunculated left atria tumour attached to the root of posteriormitral valve leaflet. Intracardiac mass should be considered a possible risk factor for ischemic stroke in young adult, especially in the absence of other risk factors such as connective tissue disorders, HIV/AIDS, hemoglobinopathy or use of recreational drugs. High index of suspicion is required in order not to overlook such source of emboli. Early diagnosis offers the best panacea for a definitive therapy and prevention of stroke recurrence with its devastating sequelae.Intracardic tumour, risk factor, stroke . Nigerian Journal of Clinical Practice Vol. 11 (1) 2008: pp. 82-8

Psychiatric morbidity in a Nigerian neurology clinic

Objective: The objective of the study was to determine the prevalence and nature of psychiatric morbidity among patients attending a neurology outpatient clinic.Design: A two-stage screening procedure with General Health Questionnaire (GHQ-12) and Schedules for Clinical Assessment in Neuropsychiatry (SCAN) was used to assess psychological disorders over a one year period. Psychiatric diagnosis was based on ICD-10 criteria.Setting: University of Ilorin Teaching Hospital (UITH), Ilorin- NigeriaSubjects: Two hundred and thirty-five (235) patients aged 18 years and above attending the neurology outpatient clinic.Results: Overall prevalence of psychiatric morbidity was 26.0% (61/235). The most frequent diagnoses were depression (14.9%), generalised anxiety disorder (5.5%), dementia (2.6%) and substance use disorder (1.3%). Significantly more patients with stroke had psychiatric morbidity.Conclusion: The study supports previous reports that psychiatric disorders are quite common among patients with neurological disorders. Efforts should, therefore, be directed at identifying and treating neurological patients with psychiatric morbidity since this will ensure improved outcome. In this regard, mental health professionals would need to provide liaison services for the neurologists and train them in the use of simple screening instruments for detecting associated psychiatric disorders with appropriate referral where necessary

Acute Stroke at The University College Hospital Ibadan, Nigeria: Clinical Profile and Predictors of 30-day Mortality

Stroke is a common public health problem in Nigeria and a leading cause of hospitalization in neurological services. Currently, there is limited information on predictors of early mortality in hospitalized patients in this region. The objectives of this study were to determine the 30-day case fatality rate as well as predictors of early mortality after stroke. This was a prospective study of all stroke patients admitted to the University College Hospital Ibadan Nigeria between July 2002 and September 2003.The diagnosis of stroke was mainly clinical using the WHO clinical criteria. Only 21 patients had Cranial CT scans due to the frequent breakdown of the machine during the study and the high cost of the investigation procedure. Predictors of 30-Day mortality: GCS140mg/dl, Age>70 years, NIHSS score>20, Heamorrhagic stroke, Systolic and Diastolic Hypertension were studied in all the patients. A total of 135 patients were enrolled in the study, comprising 74 males (54.8%) and 61 women (45.2%). Mean age was 62.3±12.Ischaemic CVD accounted for 71% of all cases while ICH was 22% and SAH was 7%. The over-all mortality was 15.5% and was closely related to the NIHSS score, level of consciousness (GCS) and associated complications such as raised intracranial pressure and aspiration pneumonia. NIHSS score > 20 was the only significant independent predictor of thirty days mortality in this study. The case fatality rate in this study was relatively lower than the value obtained in most previous hospital reports from Nigeria and Africa. This may be due to improved stroke care among others in this centre.Key words: Stroke, case fatality rate, predictors of 30- day mortalit

Letter to the Editor: A retrospective review of adult tetanus and its outcome at the University of Ilorin Teaching Hospital, Ilorin, Nigeria.

No Abstract. Keywords: Tetanus, outcomes, Ilorin, Nigeri