Late Antenatal Care Booking And Its Predictors Among Pregnant Women In South Western Nigeria

Introduction: Antenatal care is concerned mainly with prevention, early diagnosis and treatment of general medical and pregnancy associated disorders. For it to be meaningful, early booking is recommended, however, late booking is still a major problem.\ud Objective: To determine the prevalence of late booking in our environment and factors related to it.\ud Methodology: A descriptive cross-sectional study using structured interviewer assisted questionnaires.\ud Results: Mean gestational age at booking was 20.3±6.2 weeks. Prevalence of late entry to antenatal care was 82.6%. Maternal education and age remained significant factors influencing late booking.\ud Conclusion: Late booking is still a major problem in this part of the world. Public enlightenment, health education coupled with women empowerment would be helpful in reducing the proble

Creating a child-friendly environment in paediatric ophthalmology practice

In most developing countries particularly in Nigeria, the paediatric ophthalmology subspecialty is still at its infancy especially in terms of human resources, equipment and infrastructure. It is therefore important to bring to notice the importance of creating a child friendly eye care environment while putting up an eye care unit. This will help in making prompt and adequate diagnosis which will help in giving the child good vision. It also gives the child and parents the confidence, and enthusiasm to return for follow up which is of utmost importance in patient care and management in order to prevent avoidable blindness. This article will also contribute to the information and data base in Nigeria as there is paucity of data on this topic in Nigeria and most other parts of Africa.Keywords: Child, eye care, friendly environmen

Childhood blindness and visual impairment in an underserved population in South West Nigeria: A clinic-based study

Background: Knowledge of the causes of poor vision among children will contribute to interventions and policies to prevent childhood blindness and visual impairment.Methods: This was a 3-year descriptive study of consecutive cases presenting to the secondary eye clinic at State Specialist Hospital in Osogbo, Nigeria. Sociodemographic characteristics were documented, and full clinical eye examinations were done. Descriptive analyses were carried out.Results: Among 214 children examined, 59.3% were male and the mean age was 9.3 ± 3.5 years. The predominant age group was 0 to 5 years (40.2%). Common causes of blindness and visual impairment were: refractive error (22.9%), corneal disease (21.5%), and cataract (19.6%). Refractive error was significantly more common among participants between 11 and 16 years of age (P < 0.001). All cases of retinoblastoma occurred among participants 0 to 5 years old (P < 0.001). Blindness most commonly resulted from corneal opacities (31.1%), severe visual impairment most commonly resulted from cataracts (35.4%), and moderate visual impairment was most often the result of refractive error (47.8%). According to the World Health Organization classification of visual impairment, 74 participants (34.6%) were blind, 48 (22.4%) had severe visual impairment, and 92 (42.9%) had moderate visual impairment.Conclusions: The causes of blindness and visual impairment are mainly avoidable. Provision of adequate manpower, necessary equipment in the hospitals for subsidised refractive and cataract surgical services, and uptake of these services are required towards prevention.Keywords: childhood blindness; visual impairment; eye healthcare facilities; advocacy; Nigeri

Social media utilisation by ophthalmic and non-ophthalmic resident doctors in Nigeria

Objectives: The use of social media (SM) in medical specialties has not been well studied in Nigeria. Thus, this study compared utilisation of social media between Ophthalmologists-in-training and trainees in other medical specialties.Methods: Semi-structured self-administered questionnaire was used to collect information on SM use from the participants. Descriptive and inferential statistics (Chi-squared and t-test) were used to analyse the data.Results: Almost all the respondents had at least one active social media account. WhatsApp and Facebook were the preferred SM platforms among the respondents. Ophthalmologists-in-training usually used SM to access academic resources (77.8%) while other trainees used SM to share information on difficult clinical cases (80.2%). Both groups found WhatsApp and YouTube very useful in their practice. Impediments to realizing the potentials of SM in medical practice included poor internet services (85.5%), poor electricity supply (55.4%), privacy and ethical issues (36.2%).Conclusion: Most resident doctors in Nigeria are actively using SM for social interactions, professional development and academic pursuits. Its full potentials in medical practice are yet to be utilized. Resolution of crisis in the power sector in Nigeria and provision of internet services in tertiary hospitals in Nigeria would enhance the realization of full benefits of SM in healthcare delivery.Key-words: Social media, WhatsApp, YouTube, Resident Doctors, Nigeri

Erratum: A Survey of Paediatric Eye Diseases in a Tertiary Hospital, Southwest Nigeria

In the article titled “A Survey of Pediatric Eye Diseases in a Tertiary Hospital, South Western Nigeria”, published on pages 149-54, Issue 2, Volume 30 of Nigerian Journal of Medicine [1], the name of the second author is written incorrectly as “Ubah Josephine Ngozi” instead of “Ubah Josephine Nonye”.The “How to cite this article” section should read correctly as “Isawumi MA, Ubah JN. A survey of paediatric eye diseases in a tertiary hospital, Southwest Nigeria. Niger J Med 2021;30:149-54”

A Survey of Pediatric Eye Diseases in a Tertiary Hospital in Osogbo, South‑west Nigeria

Background: Identifying common eye diseases in childhood is a Step towards the prevention of visual impairment and preservation of vision in children who still have many productive years ahead. Aim: The aim is to determine the spectrum of eye disorders in children attending a tertiary health institution to plan preventive and curative strategies. Methodology: This was a 4-year retrospective study of children 0–16 years who presented to a tertiary institution. Through retrieval and study of case notes, information on age, sex, duration before the presentation, month of presentation, and diagnosis were obtained and analyzed using descriptive statistics. Results: Of 1120 case notes, studied, (53.8%) were male and (46.2%) female in a ratio of 1.6:1. The mean age was 8.54 years ± 5.03 and the modal age group was 11–16 years ± 0.85. About 51% (51.2%) had normal vision while (13.4%) were blind. The commonest eye disorders were conjunctivitis 488 (43.3%), refractive errors 292 (26.1%), and cornea-related problems 94 (8.4%). The less frequent disorders found were trauma 65 (5.8%), cataract 63 (5.6%), glaucoma 14 (4.3%), uveitis 7 (0.6%), and strabismus/others 67 (6.0%). Cataract 36/150 (24.0%) and refractive error 107/198 (54.0%) were the most common causes of blindness and visual impairment. Most children presented after 2–3 weeks of the onset of symptoms. Refractive error was more prevalent in females 176/518 (34.0%), while trauma was more prevalent in males 42/602 (7.0%). Conclusion: The common causes of ocular diseases in children in this study are avoidable. There should be an unrelenting effort toward the prevention of visual impairment or amblyopia by the provision of adequate treatment through subsidized eye care services. A follow-up study to ascertain the causes of delay in resentation would be helpful. Keywords: Children, eye care services, eye diseases, hospital, preventio

Health Workers' Knowledge of and Experience with Female Genital Cutting in Southwestern, Nigeria

Female genital mutilation with its attendant complications has been a harmful traditional practice that is difficult to eliminate despite all efforts by various government and non-governmental agencies in Nigeria. The aim of this study is to assess the experience and the knowledge of the health workers practicing in our environment on Female genital cutting (FGC). Two hundred and fifty were interviewed with self-administered structured questionnaire. Their mean age was 35.2±8.3 years. Type I 82(66.6%) was the commonest FGC seen by the health workers, type II 31(25.2%), type III 9 (7.3%) and type IV constituted 0.8%. Two hundred and two (202) (80.0%) of the respondents admitted to having sufficient knowledge in preventing FGC while 42 (16.8%) did not have. One hundred and twenty one (121) (48.4%) had been asked to perform FGC. It was concluded that female genital cutting is still a major health problem in Nigeria. There is need for all concerned to step up efforts in the elimination of the practice.Keywords: Experience, Female Genital cutting, Health workers, Knowledge, Nigeri

Video Modelling, Drama Therapy and Self-help Skills of Pupils with Moderate Intellectual Disability in Lagos State, Nigeria

The study examined the effects of Video Modelling (VM) and Drama Therapy (DM) on self-help skills of pupils with moderate intellectual disability in Lagos State, Nigeria using parental involvement and age of entry to school as moderating variables. The study adopted a pretest-posttest control group quasi experimental design using a sample size of Seventy-five (75) participants purposively selected from three special primary schools in Lagos State, Nigeria. The instrument used for the study include Slosson intelligence test (r=0.91), Pervasive Developmental Disorder (PDD) adaptive Skills test (r=0.81), Self-help skills performance test (r=0.76) and parental involvement rating scale(r=0.92). The findings revealed that VM and DM are effective in the acquisition and enhancement of self-help skills of pupils with moderate intellectual disability, also age of entry to school had significant main effect on self-help skills acquisition while parental involvement have none. Based on the findings in the study, some recommendations were made which includes Special Educator, Care-givers and teachers can utilize VM and DT to improve self-help skills of pupils with moderate intellectual disability irrespective of their parental involvement. Pupils with moderate intellectual disability should be encouraged to enrol for formal education early, this implies that participants that entered school early were known to do better in their self-help skills than those that entered school late. Curriculum planners should incorporate VM and DT in the curriculum for teaching pupils with moderate intellectual disability self-help skills. Keywords: Self-help skills, Video modelling, Drama therapy, moderate intellectual disability DOI: 10.7176/JEP/12-9-05 Publication date:March 31st 202

Otorhinolaryngological causes of proptosis and their sequelae in an eye clinic in Osogbo, south west Nigeria

This was a one year descriptive-cases-series of proptosis presenting to a tertiary eye clinic between January to December 2011. Socio- demographic data were obtained. Subjects aged between 41/ years to 2 75 years who had proptosis referred from the Otorhinolaryngology clinics were examined. Visual acuities, clinical examination of the anterior and posterior segment of the eye, ocular alignment and systemic examination were done. Otorhinolaringologists' findings, laboratory results, radio diagnostic tests, and previous surgical intervention were noted. The major causes of proptosis were due to malignancy (66%) followed by infections and cystic lesions in equal proportions. Half of the subjects who developed visual impairment had improvement in vision and improved facial symmetry after appropriate treatments were instituted. Cases of strabismus were also corrected. Co- management is here demonstrated to give the best cosmetic and visual outcome.Keywords: Otolaryngological causes, proptosis, visual impairmen

Home and School Environments as Determinant of Social Skills Deficit among Learners with Intellectual Disability in Lagos State

The study examined home and school environmental factors as determinant of social skills deficit among learners with intellectual disability in Lagos State, Nigeria. The study adopted survey research method using a sample size of fifty (50) pupils with intellectual disability who were purposively selected from five special primary schools in Lagos State, Nigeria. The instrument used for the study was a questionnaire (r=0.902). The findings revealed that all independent variables jointly contributed to social skill deficits among learners with intellectual disability sampled (F(12,48)=3.141, p<0.05). Furthermore, the contribution of all the independent variables is as follows, attitude to fellow student made the highest contribution to social skills deficits (β = 0.583, p < 0.05) which was significant. Followed by parent education qualification with coefficient (β = -0.388, p < 0.05) which was also significant. Teacher attitude, school library, family size, parent’s employment industry, parenting styles, sport facilities, marital status, parent’s income and classroom interaction did not have relative effect on the social skills deficit of learners with intellectual disability/ Based on the findings in the study, some recommendations were made which includes that  school, parents and society should encourage good social skills that will compensate for social skills deficit among learners with intellectual disability and also reward good behavior. Keywords: Social skills deficit, Intellectual disability, Home environments, School Environment