Adherence to Protective Measures against Hearing‑Related Hazards of Mobile Phone Users among University Students

Background: Mobile phone is an integral part of the society used by almost all. Youth in Nigerians are recognized as the most active users of mobile phones. There are about 1.1 billion youth people globally at risk of noise‑induced hearing loss from unsafe listening. The awareness and adherence to hearing conservation measures against the hearing‑related hazards of mobile phones have not been evaluated in our environment. Aims: To determine the knowledge and adherence to protective measures against the hearing‑related hazards of mobile phones among university students. Materials and Methods: The study was a cross‑sectional descriptive type, conducted among university students. Ethical clearance was obtained from the institutional review committee, a multistage random sampling technique was used to recruit the participants, and a specially designed and validated questionnaire was used to collect the data. The data were analyzed using Statistical Product and Service Solutions (SPSS) version 20.0. Results: The age of the respondents ranged from 16 to 40 years with a mean age of 23.6 ± 5.3 years. Very few of the participants (19.1%) adhere to protective measures to mitigate hearing‑related hazards of mobile phones, although about half (52.1%) had good knowledge of hearing  conservation measures. There was a statistically significant association between knowledge of hearing‑related hazard of mobile phone (P = 0.038) and knowledge of protective measures (P = 0.000) with the adherence to protective measures, respectively. Conclusions: The knowledge and  adherence to protective measures against the hearing‑related hazards of mobile phones were poor among the respondents. Keywords: Hearing loss, mobile phone, protective measures, university student

Impact of smoking on nasal mucociliary clearance time in Kano metropolis, Nigeria

Abstract Background Mucociliary clearance is an important defense mechanism in human upper and lower respiratory airways. Impairment of this process by certain conditions such as cigarette smoking can predispose to chronic infection and neoplasm of the nose and paranasal sinuses. Methods This was a cross‐sectional study conducted in Kano metropolis, Nigeria. Eligible adults were enrolled, a saccharine test was conducted, and the nasal mucociliary clearance time was assessed. Analysis of the result was carried out using Statistical Product and Service Solutions version 23.0. Results There were 225 participants categorized into 75 active smokers (33.3%), 74 passive smokers (32.9%), and 76 nonsmokers (33.8%, living in a smoking‐free zone). The age range of the participants was between 18 and 50 years, with a mean age of (31.2 ± 5.6) years. All participants were males. There were 139 (61.8%) of Hausa‐Fulani ethnic group, 24 (10.7%) Yoruba, 18 (8.0%) Igbo, and 44 (19.5%) other ethnic groups. Findings in this study showed that the average mucociliary clearance time among active smokers was prolonged ([15.25 ± 6.20] min) compared to passive ([11.41 ± 4.25] min) and nonsmokers ([9.17 ± 2.76] min) respectively, with a statistical significance (F = 33.59, P < 0.001). Binary logistic regression revealed that the number of cigarettes smoked per day was an independent predictor of prolonged mucociliary clearance time (P = 0.008, odds ratio = 0.44, 95% confidence interval = 0.24–0.80). Conclusion Active cigarette smoking is associated with prolonged nasal mucociliary clearance time. The number of cigarette sticks smoked per day was found to be an independent predictor of prolonged mucociliary clearance time