Impact of Computer Simulation Instructional Package on Physical Education Pupils’ Motor Skills Development in Individualized Learning Settings in Niger State, Nigeria

The study examined the impact of a computer simulation instructional package on physical education pupils’ motor skills development in an individualized learning setting in Niger State. The experimental research design was used and two research questions and two corresponding null hypotheses guided the study. Computer simulation instructional package and motor skills assessment and rating scale were used as research instruments. The instruments were subjected to experts’ validation and reliability checks. Data collected were analyzed using Mean, Standard Deviation, and Analysis of Covariance (ANCOVA) in Statistical Package for Social Science (SPSS Version 20). Findings revealed that pupils' motor skills development when exposed to computer simulation instructional packages in individualized learning setting better than the demonstration method. Also, the motor skills of male pupils were better to enhance than that of their female counterparts. Based on the findings, it was recommended that teachers should adopt a computer simulation instructional package to replace the traditional means of teaching physical education

Clients’ perception of antenatal care services in a tertiary hospital in North Eastern Nigeria

Background: The study determined and documented the level of satisfaction and quality of care of patients attending the antenatal clinic of University of Maiduguri Teaching Hospital. It was a cross sectional study.Methods: Using an interviewer administered questionnaire whose contents were synthesized from validated Patient Satisfaction Questionnaire III (PSQ III), information on clients’ satisfaction was obtained from 274 women attending antenatal care clinic. Data were entered in to the IBM SPSS software, and analysed. Some variables were reduced to binomial scale with two categories in order to ease the process of logistic regression. P value <0.05 at 95% confidence interval was considered significant.Results: The study showed an excellent level of satisfaction of clients with services obtained from our facility. Majority of respondents, 99 (36.1%) were aged of 20-24 years, with most of them having education above primary school level- 99 (36.1%). Although most of the clients, 158 (57.7%) were unskilled, majority of the clients’ husbands, 136 (49.6%) were middle level workers. However, logistic regression of all the significant determinants of patients’ overall satisfaction of quality of ANC services- clients’ occupation, educational status, enjoying full medical services, having enough time with doctors and access to hospital, good registration process and effective ANC laboratory, showed that none of the factors was a predictor of clients’ satisfaction.Conclusions: Periodic patient satisfaction survey should be institutionalized to provide feedback for continuous quality improvement

Choice of antihypertensive medications among physicians and its impact on blood pressure control among Nigerians living with hypertension

Background: Hypertension, if untreated or uncontrolled, leads to damage of vital organs such as the brain, heart and the kidneys among others. These complications have been shown to be severer in black Africans. Benefit of treatment has been repeatedly demonstrated by many studies. Therefore, many guidelines have been produced by relevant bodies in different countries in order to assist physicians in making the right choices for blood pressure (BP) control. Most of these bodies produce the guidelines based on the peculiarities of hypertension in their respective population. Several reports have shown how different hypertension is, in black Africans, still there is no published unified guideline for its treatment in this population.Methods: This was a survey of known hypertensives who were on follow up visit. Their prescriptions were assessed for drug name, class and number. Their blood pressures at that visit were also recorded. Prevalence of single therapy and combination therapy were determined. Compliance with the AHA recommended 2 – drug combination was determined. The percentage of BP control as well as the prescribed drugs in each group were also obtained.Results: Those on single agents were 13% out of which 52% were controlled. 87% were on various combination of 2 or more drugs of whom 41.9% of those on 2 drugs and 21.1% of those on more than 2 drugs had controlled BP. BP control in those on 2 drugs was better than in those with &gt; 2 drugs, (p=0.0027).ACEI were the commonest used drug either as single agent (55.9%) or as 2 – drug combination as seen in 54.8% of the subjects on 2 – drug combination. 13 different 2 – drug combinations were identified with the best control in ARB + Diuretic, ACEI + Diuretic and CCB + Diuretic. The least control was observed in the ACEI + CCB group. Compliance with AHA recommendation was good but still 7.7% were under unacceptable group while another 7.7% were unclassified.Conclusion: ACE-Is are becoming the drugs of choice both as monotherapy and as combination therapy. Despite good compliance to AHA recommendation on drug combination, overall control is still a problem which calls for a revisit of these recommendations in Africans.Keywords: Ahtihypertensives; Physicians; Impact; Blood Pressure; Nigerian

Studies of action of heavy metals on caffeine degradation by immobilised Leifsonia sp. strain SIU

Caffeine is an important naturally occurring compound that can be degraded by bacteria. Excessive caffeine consumption is known to have some adverse problems. Previously, Leifsonia sp. strain SIU capable of degrading caffeine was isolated from agricultural soil. The bacterium was tested for its ability to degrade caffeine as the sole carbon and nitrogen source. The isolate was encapsulated in gellan gum and its ability to degrade caffeine in the presence of heavy metals was determined. Out of the nine heavy metals tested, Copper (Cu), Mercury (Hg), and Silver (Ag) had significant effects on caffeine degradation at 1mg/L. Therefore, the concentration of these heavy metals was varied from 0 - 1 mg/L to see at what concentration each metal it has effect. Ag and Hg showed effect at 0.1 mg/L with caffeine degradation of 64.05 and 52.17% respectively, while Cu showed effect at 0.8 mg/L with caffeine degradation of 64.74%. These bacterium features make it an ultimate means for caffeine bioremediation. This is the first report of effect of heavy metals on caffeine degradation by immobilised Leifsonia sp. strain SIU.Keywords: Caffeine, Degradation, Heavy metals, Immobilisation, Leifsonia sp

A 5-year review of maternal mortality associated with eclampsia in a tertiary institution in northern Nigeria

Objective : To determine the incidence of maternal mortality associated with eclampsia and to determine how socio-demographic and clinical characteristics of the women influence the deaths. Methodology : Records of 52 eclampsia-related mortalities from January 2003 to December 2007 were reviewed, retrospectively. Their social demography, mode and place of delivery, time of eclampsia, and fetal outcome were extracted for analysis. Results : Eclampsia accounted for 52 (46.4%) of the 112 total maternal deaths recorded within the 5-year period, with case fatality of 22.33%. Age group &lt; 20, 20-29 and above 30 all had similar case fatality rate of 22.1%, 23.8% and 26.7%, respectively. Those who were experiencing their first deliveries have the worst deaths recording 42.5% of the case fatality in that category. As expected, unbooked had higher case fatality of 24.0% compared to 15% among booked cases, while those with no formal education also had more death (22.3% case fatality) as compared to 3.3% among those who had some form of formal education. Antepartum eclampsia was the cause in 50% of the death, 11(21.2%) of the pregnancies were not delivered before their death, while 18 (34.6%) were stillbirth. Conclusion : Eclampsia still remains the major cause of maternal mortality in this region resulting from unsupervised pregnancies and deliveries. There is need to educate and encourage the general public for antenatal care and hospital delivery

Where do delays occur when women receive antenatal care? A client flow multi-site study in four health facilities in Nigeria

Objectives: The objective of the study was to identify where delays occur when women present for antenatal care in four Nigerian referral hospitals, and to make recommendations on ways to reduce delays in the course of provision of antenatal care in the hospitals.Design: Prospective observational studySetting: Four Nigerian (1 tertiary and 3 secondary) HospitalsParticipants: Women who presented for antenatal care.Interventions: A process mapping. The National Health Service (NHS) Institute Quality and Service Improvement Tool was used for the assessment.Main outcome measures: The time women spent in waiting and receiving antenatal care in various departments of the hospitals.Results: Waiting and total times spent varied significantly within and between the hospitals surveyed. Mean waiting and total times spent were longest in the outpatients’ departments and shortest in the Pharmacy Departments. Total time spent was an average of 237.6 minutes. χ2= 21.074; p= 0.0001Conclusion: There was substantial delay in time spent to receive care by women seeking routine antenatal health services in the four secondary and tertiary care hospitals. We recommend managers in health facilities include the reduction of waiting times in the strategic plans for improving the quality of antenatal care in the hospitals. This should include the use of innovative payment systems that excludes payment at time of service delivery, adoption of a fast-track system such as pre-packing of frequently used commodities and the use of new tech informational materials for the provision of health education.Funding: The Alliance for Health Policy and Systems Research, World Health Organization, Geneva; Protocol IDA65869.Keywords: Delays; Waiting time; antenatal; Hospitals; Women; Maternity care; Process mapping; Nigeria

Assessing the knowledge and skills on emergency obstetric care among health providers : implications for health systems strengthening in Nigeria

A questionnaire was used to obtain information relating to health providers’ socio-demographic characteristics; respondents’ knowledge and skills in offering specific Emergency Obstetrics Care (EMOC) services (as compared to standard World Health Organization recommendations); and their confidence in transferring the skills to mid-level providers. Findings indicate that knowledge and reported skills in EMOC by health providers was lower than average in referral facilities in Nigeria. Recommendations include in-service training and re-training of health providers along with health policy and programs that address maternal mortality

Prevalence and risk factors for maternal mortality in referral hospitals in Nigeria : a multicenter study

This study determines maternal mortality ratios (MMR) and identifies risk factors for maternal deaths in referral health facilities in Nigeria. Results show an MMR of 2,085 per 100,000 live births in hospital facilities. Efforts to reduce MMR requires the improvement of emergency obstetric care; public health education so that women can seek appropriate and immediate evidence-based pregnancy care; the socioeconomic empowerment of women; and the strengthening of the health care system. In the past ten years contraceptive prevalence rates have remained low at 10%; antenatal attendance has remained at 64%, skilled birth attendance of 33% is one of the lowest in sub-Saharan Africa.World Health Organizatio

Obstetric hemorrhage and shock management: using the low technology Non-pneumatic Anti-Shock Garment in Nigerian and Egyptian tertiary care facilities

Abstract Background Obstetric hemorrhage is the leading cause of maternal mortality globally. The Non-pneumatic Anti-Shock Garment (NASG) is a low-technology, first-aid compression device which, when added to standard hypovolemic shock protocols, may improve outcomes for women with hypovolemic shock secondary to obstetric hemorrhage in tertiary facilities in low-resource settings. Methods This study employed a pre-intervention/intervention design in four facilities in Nigeria and two in Egypt. Primary outcomes were measured mean and median blood loss, severe end-organ failure morbidity (renal failure, pulmonary failure, cardiac failure, or CNS dysfunctions), mortality, and emergency hysterectomy for 1442 women with ≥750 mL blood loss and at least one sign of hemodynamic instability. Comparisons of outcomes by study phase were assessed with rank sum tests, relative risks (RR), number needed to treat for benefit (NNTb), and multiple logistic regression. Results Women in the NASG phase (n = 835) were in worse condition on study entry, 38.5% with mean arterial pressure &lt;60 mmHg vs. 29.9% in the pre-intervention phase (p = 0.001). Despite this, negative outcomes were significantly reduced in the NASG phase: mean measured blood loss decreased from 444 mL to 240 mL (p &lt; 0.001), maternal mortality decreased from 6.3% to 3.5% (RR 0.56, 95% CI 0.35-0.89), severe morbidities from 3.7% to 0.7% (RR 0.20, 95% CI 0.08-0.50), and emergency hysterectomy from 8.9% to 4.0% (RR 0.44, 0.23-0.86). In multiple logistic regression, there was a 55% reduced odds of mortality during the NASG phase (aOR 0.45, 0.27-0.77). The NNTb to prevent either mortality or severe morbidity was 18 (12-36). Conclusion Adding the NASG to standard shock and hemorrhage management may significantly improve maternal outcomes from hypovolemic shock secondary to obstetric hemorrhage at tertiary care facilities in low-resource settings

Kematangan Emosi Pada Pria Dan Wanita Yang Menikah Muda

Penelitian ini bertujuan untuk menguji secara empiris perbedaan kematangan emosi pada pria dan wanita yang menikah muda. Penelitian ini dilakukan terhadap 25 orang pria dan 25 orang wanita yang berusia antara 18 sampai dengan 24 tahun yang menikah muda. Dari 56 item disebarkan diperoleh 34 item yang valid. Nilai korelasi yang didapat berkisar antara 0.307 sampai 0.752 sedangkan koefisien reliabilitas sebesar 0.884. Uji hipotesis menggunakan uji beda U Mann-Whitney, karena tidak terpenuhinya kriteria uji statistik parametrik. Berdasarkan analisis data diperoleh skor t sebesar -3.061 (p < 0.01). Hasil tersebut menunjukkan adanya perbedaan kematangan emosi yang sangat signifikan pada pria dan wanita yang menikah muda