Prevalence of Low Back Pain Among Traffic Wardens in Lagos State, Nigeria

Low back pain (LBP) has been found to be common among workers in certain industries and occupations. However, little is known about the prevalence of low back pain among traffic wardens in Nigeria, who are perceived to belong to the group of workers that are exposed to high  occupational risks. This study was designed to determine the prevalence of low back pain and its associated risk factors among traffic wardens. The study design was a cross-sectional descriptive survey. All subjects were  evaluated using a 32-item questionnaire to collect information on the demographic characteristics, years of involvement in working as a traffic warden, history of LBP in the last 12 months, possible causes and management of LBP, and the effect of LBP on work and the activities of daily living. The intensity of the pain was assessed using a verbal ratingscale. The prevalence of low back pain over a 12-month period was observed to be 69.5%. The intensity was described as moderate (49.2%), mild (11.8%), or severe (8.6%). Eighty (61.5%) of the traffic wardens agreed that LBP constitutes some form of impediment to their job  activities. There was a relationship between age and prevalence of low back pain, with age 35 – 54 years having the highest level of prevalence. Years of involvement in regulating traffic also has a significant influence on the severity of LBP. A higher prevalence was identified among males compared to females This study concluded that low back pain is prevalent among traffic wardens and the female wardens are more susceptible than their male counterparts. Also, age and years of involvement in regulating trafficsignificantly influence prevalence of LBP.KEY WORDS: low back pain, traffic warden, occupational healt

Biochemical infertility among females attending University of Ilorin Teaching Hospital, Nigeria

No Abstract

Diabetic foot care: Self reported knowledge and practice among patients attending three tertiary hospital in Nigeria

Background: Diabetes Mellitus (DM) foot complications are a leading cause of mortality in developing countries and the prevalence of diabetes is expected to increase in the next decades in these countries. Theaim of this study was to determine the knowledge and practice of foot care among diabetes patients attending three tertiary hospitals in Nigeria.Methods: This is a cross-sectional study carried out from November 2009 to April 2010. Pre-tested structured questionnaires were administered by medical officers to diabetes patients. The outcome variables were knowledge and practice regarding foot care. The knowledge and practice scores were classified as good if score .70%, satisfactory if score was 50-69% and poor if score was < 50%.Results: Of 352 diabetes patients, 30.1% had good knowledge and 10.2 % had good practice of DM foot care. Majority (78.4%) of patients with poor practice had poor knowledge of foot care. With regard toknowledge, 68.8% were unaware of the first thing to do when they found redness/bleeding between their toes and 61.4% were unaware of the importance of inspecting the inside of the footwear for objects. Poor footpractices include; 89.2% not receiving advice when they bought footwear and 88.6% failing to get appropriate size footwear. Illiteracy and low socioeconomic status were significantly associated with poor knowledge and practice of foot care.Conclusion: This study has highlighted the gaps in the knowledge and practice of foot care in DM patients and underscores the need for an educational programme to reduce of diabetic foot complication

Preparation and use of plant medicines for farmers' health in Southwest Nigeria: socio-cultural, magico-religious and economic aspects

Agrarian rural dwellers in Nigeria produce about 95% of locally grown food commodities. The low accessibility to and affordability of orthodox medicine by rural dwellers and their need to keep healthy to be economically productive, have led to their dependence on traditional medicine. This paper posits an increasing acceptance of traditional medicine country-wide and advanced reasons for this trend. The fact that traditional medicine practitioners' concept of disease is on a wider plane vis-à-vis orthodox medicine practitioners' has culminated in some socio-cultural and magico-religious practices observed in preparation and use of plant medicines for farmers' health management. Possible scientific reasons were advanced for some of these practices to show the nexus between traditional medicine and orthodox medicine. The paper concludes that the psychological aspect of traditional medicine are reflected in its socio-cultural and magico-religious practices and suggests that government should fund research into traditional medicine to identify components of it that can be integrated into the national health system

Serum uric acid level as an independent component of the metabolism syndrome in Type 2 diabetic blacks

No Abstract. Nigrian Journal of Clinical Practice Vol. 10 (2) 2007: pp. 137-14

Oral glucose tolerance test (OGTT) in Ilorin, Nigeria

216 patients who presented at the Metabolic Clinic of the University of Ilorin Teaching Hospital, Nigeria, between January 2003 and December 2003 were recruited for this study. Pregnant subjects had an extended oral glucose tolerance test (OGTT) performed according to the National Diabetes Data Group (NDDG) recommended procedure using 100gm glucose loading, while the rest had a standard OGTT performed according to WHO recommended procedure using 75gm glucose loading. Indications were as follows; 34(15.74%) obstetrics, 164 (75.93%) impaired fasting glucose (IFG), 8(3.70%) unexplained retinopathy, 4(1.85%) previous abnormality of glucose tolerance (PAGT), 2(0.93%) steroid therapy and 4(1.85%) for research. Out of the 34 pregnant subjects, 5(14.71%) had a normal OGTT result, 22(64.71%) had impaired glucose tolerance (IGT), 2(5.88%) were diabetic and 5(14.71%) had a flat response. Of the 164 with IFG, 13(7.93%) were normal, 95(57.93%) had IGT, 48(29.27%) diabetic and 8(4.88%) had flat response. 2(25.00%) out of 8 that presented with unexplained retinopathy had DM and the rest 6(75.00%) had IGT. Two (50.00%) of those with PAGT were normal while the rest 2(50.00%) had DM. The two subjects on steroid therapy (100.00%) had IGT. Two (50.00%) of those sent for investigation as part of research had IGT while the rest 2(50.00%) had a flat response. This study shows that about 90% of OGTT requests were made on the basis of IFG and suspected gestational diabetes mellitus (GDM) while no requests were made for unexplained neuropathy, unexplained nephropathy and investigation of hypoglycemia. We conclude that there is under utilization of OGTT in the diagnosis of unexplained neuropathy, unexplained nephropathy and unexplained retinopathy in our center. Keywords: OGTT, request pattern, diagnostic outcome The Tropical Journal of Health Sciences Vol. 13(2) 2006: 15-1