Predictors of knowledge, attitudes and ever practice family planning among public secondary school teachers in Enugu east senatorial district, Nigeria

Background: Family planning deficiencies are responsible for high maternal, newborn, and child mortality in Nigeria, and more than half of all death among adult female is linked to maternal death. Aim: To ascertain the predictors of good knowledge, positive attitudes, and ever practice family planning among public secondary school teachers in Enugu East Senatorial District, Nigeria. Subjects and Methods: A cross-sectional research was carried out among public secondary school teachers aged between 18 and 60 years in Enugu East Senatorial District, Nigeria, using probability proportional to size sampling and systematic random sampling from a selection of 1,000 participants. Factors considered included sources of information on family planning, partner involvement, history of family planning methods, and healthcare facilities. Bivariate and multivariable logistic regression analysis was employed to establish the relationship. An odds ratio of 95% confidence interval (CI) was estimated to ascertain the level of significance. Result: A majority (65.9%) of respondents had a good knowledge of family planning, more than half had positive attitudes (52.7%), and most of them had ever practice family planning (55.0%). Television (AOR = 2.17; 95% CI 1.54-3.06) and social media (AOR = 1.89; 95% CI 1.29-2.78) were effective sources of information to establish significant predictors of good knowledge on family planning. Healthcare (AOR = 0.68; 95% CI 0.51-0.92) and partner discussion (AOR = 3.19; 95% CI 1.94–5.27) were also significant determinants of positive attitudes towards family planning. Cost of obtaining family planning methods (AOR = 0.003; 95% CI 0.001-0.013) and proximity of family planning facilities (AOR = 0.04; 95% CI 0.02-0.10) were notable predictors of ever practice family planning. Conclusion: The level of knowledge, attitudes, and ever practiced family planning among teachers are moderate and a significant number of predictors were identified. Effective awareness is recommended and making use of television as a channel to increase levels of knowledge will hopefully encourage utilization of family planning among teachers

Psychological determinants of pre-hypertension among first year undergraduate students in a public university in Malaysia

Pre-hypertension increased the risk of morbidity and mortality from non-communicable diseases. Whereas, psychological factors such as depression, anxiety and stress have been associated with increased in blood pressure. However, previous studies more focuses on psychological determinants of hypertension than prehypertension. Thus, this study aims to determine the association between these psychological factors with pre-hypertension. A cross-sectional study was conducted in 2012 among first year students of a public Malaysian university. A random cluster sampling was used to select 5 out of 15 faculties and a total of 495 students participated in this study. The Malay version of DASS-21 was used to elicit their levels of depression, anxiety and stress. Blood pressures were measured twice using sphygmomanometer and the averages were taken. Data analyses used chi-square test and binary multiple logistic regression. The prevalence of pre-hypertension was 30.1%. The percentage of severe and extremely severe depression was 3.8% and 1.2%; both severe and extremely severe anxiety was 16.4%; and severe and extremely severe stress was 4.2% and 0.2% respectively. Severe/extremely severe depression had more than 3 times higher in getting pre-hypertension than no depression. In conclusions, almost one third of respondents had pre-hypertension and only severe/extremely depression was associated with pre-hypertension

Mid‑term impact of home‑based follow‑up care on health‑related quality of life of hypertensive patients at a teaching hospital in Ilorin, Nigeria

Background: Health‑related quality of life (HRQoL) is an important clinicaloutcome assessment in hypertension management, given the lifelong (chronicity) nature and the need for daily self‑management for hypertensive patents. Of some of the studies that implemented  home‑based interventions on hypertension globally, the HRQoL is rarely used as a primary outcome measure. This study developed, implemented, and assessed the impact of home‑based follow‑up care (HBFC) on HRQoL of hypertensive patients attending outpatients’ clinics in Ilorin, Nigeria. Materials and Methods: A total of 149 and 150 patients were randomized to intervention and usual care (control) groups, respectively. A 12‑month task‑shifting (nurse‑driven) HBFC intervention was administered to intervention group. The mid‑term impact of intervention on HRQoL was assessed after 6 months intervention. Data were analyzed with intention‑to‑treat principle. Treatment effects were measured with the t‑tests, analysis of covariance, and multivariate analysis of covariance analysis. Significant levels were set at P < 0.05 and 95% confidence interval. Results: The between‑group treatment effect was not statistically significant (P > 0.05), whereas the within‑group treatment effects were statistically significant for both the intervention and control arms (P < 0.05) at 6 months. After controlling for age and baseline HRQoL, the intervention group had an improved physical component of HRQoL than the control group. The intervention group also had statistically significant improvement in blood pressure control, medication adherence, and symptom counts (P < 0.05).Conclusion: The HBFC intervention for hypertensive patients impacted positively on physical component of HRQoL after controlling for baseline HRQoL and age of the patients at 6 months post‑intervention.Keywords: Home-based care, hypertension, Ilorin, quality of lif