Prevalence of Low Back Pain among Adolescent Students in a Nigerian Urban Community

This school-based survey was aimed at determining the prevalence of low-back pain (LBP) among adolescent students of selected secondary schools in Ibadan, Nigeria. Nine hundred secondary schools students, comprising 415 boys and 485 girls, with age range 12-17 years were surveyed. They were required to complete a self-developed, three-part items questionnaire which collected information on socio-demographic characteristics, history and intensity of low back pain, factors predisposingto low back pain, and activity limitations suffered because of low back pain.The 12-month and point prevalence of LBP among participants were 40.7% and 12.9% respectively. For boys the 12-month prevalence of LBP was 41.7% and for girls it was 39.8%. The point prevalence of LBP was14.2% for girls and 11.3% for boys. Most of the participants had their first LBP experience at 10-15 years, with a peak at 12-14 years. The LBP experienced by most participants was of short duration and only a few episodes, suggesting non-chronicity. Over 50% of the participants were involved in activities that make them frequently bend at the waist.The findings of this survey suggest that LBP is fairly prevalent among Nigerian adolescents. Health education on LBP prevention will help reduce its incidence in this population.KEYWORDS: low back pain, prevalence, adolescent students, Nigeri

Psychoactive Substance use among People living with HIV/AIDS in a Tertiary Health Care Centre in South West Nigeria.

Background: There is a wide opinion on pattern of use of psychoactive substances especially parenteral psychoactive substances which have been indicted as one of the major mode of transmission of HIV among people living with HIV/AIDS (PLWHA) in the western world. However, there is regional variability especially in low-income countries due to sociocultural and economic variations along with environmental specificities. This study aimed to determine the specific prevalence, pattern and psychoactive substance used is orders associated with psychoactive substances use among PLWHA in a Nigerian population. And to examine the possible impact of knowledge of HIV status on use of psychoactive substances.Methods: This cross sectional study involved 386 PLWHA in Lagos State University Teaching Hospital, Nigeria. The information on specific prevalence, pattern and disorders associated with psychoactive use was explored using the substance use section of the World Health Organization Composite International Diagnostic Interview, Version 7.0 while data on their sociodemographic were collected using a structured questionnaire.Results: The mean age of the participants was 37.62± 9.16 years with 66.49% been females. The life time uses of psychoactive substances among the participants were: alcohol (84.8%), oral sedatives (21.03%), cannabis (3.64%), cocaine, inhalants and solvents (0.26%) while polysubstance use (alcohol, cannabis and nonprescription use of sedatives) was 0.8%. However, a combination of alcohol, cocaine and nonprescription use of sedatives was 0.3%.Conclusion: The findings of this study show that there is high prevalence of psychoactive substance use among PLWHA in Nigeria with specific pattern different from what is obtainable in the western world. This underscores the need for policy makers to look beyond the general opinion of high use of parenteral psychoactive substances among PLWHA but to be region specific about the use of these substances in low socioeconomic countries; this will generally help in combating the cause and course of the disease.KeyWords : HIV/AIDS, Psychoactive substances, Harmful use, South-west, Nigeri

Reference Values and Relationship between Cardio-Respiratory Fitness Index and Body Mass Index of Adolescent Students in a Southwestern Nigerian Community

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