Knowledge, Attitude and Practice of Voluntary Blood Donation among Healthcare Workers at the University of Benin Teaching Hospital, Benin City, Nigeria

Introduction: Adequate and safe blood supply has remained a challenge in developing countries like ours. There is a high dependency on family replacement and remunerated donor blood in our environment which carries an attendant increased risk of transfusion  transmissible infections.Objectives: The objectives of this study were to assess the knowledge, attitude and practice of voluntary blood donation among healthcare workers (non physicians), to identify and recruit potential voluntary blood donors.Methodology: This was a cross sectional descriptive study carried out at the University of Benin Teaching Hospital, Benin City. A total of 163 staff  were recruited. Pretested questionnaires were used to assess their knowledge, attitude and practice of voluntary blood donation.Statistical Analysis: The responses were collated and analyzed with the Statistical Package for Social Sciences (SPSS) 16. The association between blood donation practice and gender of respondents, category of staff and level of education were tested using Chi-square and Fisher’s test where appropriate. P-values < 0.05 were considered statistically significant.Results: The mean age of the respondents was 32years (18 – 56) with females accounting for 55.6% (90). A total of 74.8% (122) attained tertiary education and 55.8% (91) of respondents were senior staff. Majority have good knowledge and positive attitude towards donation however only 22.1% (36) have donated blood with 9.2% (15) of these being voluntary. Males workers were more likely to donate (p value <0.05). There was no significant association between blood donation and level of education.Conclusion: There is a strong disparity between the knowledge, attitude and practice of voluntary donation amongst healthcare workers.Key words: Knowledge, Attitude, Practice, Blood Donation, Healthcare Worker

Sickle Cell disease knowledge among adult Sickle Cell disease patients in Benin City, Nigeria

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Sickle Cell Disease Knowledge among Adult Patients in Benin City, Nigeria

Knowledge of sickle cell disease (SCD) among adult sickle cell disease patients had not been studied in south-south Nigeria. A good knowledge of SCD especially among those with the diseases is essential in the management of this condition particularly as regards compliance with routine drugs and clinic visit. A descriptive cross-sectional study of adult sickle cell disease patients attending the out-patients clinic of the University of Benin Teaching Hospital from May 2010 to July 2010 was conducted. An interviewer administered questionnaire was used to extract information on socio-demographic features, sickle cell disease knowledge, source of information on sickle cell disease and disease severity. A total of 192 patients comprising 75 (39.1%) males and 117 (60.9%) females were studied. One hundred and ninety had the SS while 2 had the SC genotype. The mean age of the respondents was 28.1±10.8 years, and the male to female ratio was 1: 1.6. The mean level of knowledge of the respondents was 6.8±2.7 out of 14 points. Level of knowledge increased with increasing age, increasing level of education, marriage, and early commencement of regular clinic visits. Level of knowledge was noted to be significantly poor among the uneducated patients (p=0.034) and among patients with severe disease (more than three vaso-occlusive crises requiring hospital admission or the presence of complications of SCD) (p=0.034). Level of knowledge is a very important factor in determining the severity of SCD. Improving the level of knowledge of SCD among sufferers will help ameliorate their disease

Priapism in sickle cell anaemia patients; a review of aetiopathogenenis and current management approach

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Prevalence of Priapism among Adult Male Sickle Cell Disease Populace seen at the University of Benin Teaching Hospital, Benin City

Priapism is a serious urological complication of sickle cell disease with adverse clinical and psychological implications. The study is aimed at determining the prevalence of priapism among adult male SCD patients seen at the university of Benin Teaching Hospital (UBTH), Benin City; to assess their knowledge of the complications, to characterize the pattern of presentation and to assess their health behavior with regard to priapism. This is a descriptive study. Adult male SCD patient seen in the haematology unit were assessed using a semi structure questionnaire. The study was conducted over a period of 9 months (January 2012 – September 2012). The results were analyzed using SPSS version 16. Fishers' exact test was used to assess the association between Hb phenotype and priapism. P value <0.05 was considered significant. A total of 49 SCD patients were recruited. The median age of the subjects was 27 years. The prevalence of priapism was found to be 44.9% with an average age at onset of 18.5 years. Twenty (40.8%) of the subjects are aware of priapism and its complication but only 11 (50.0%) those with priapism had discussed it with their physicians. There was no association between Hb phenotype and priapism. Priapism is a serious and common complication among male sickle cell patients in Benin City. However a significant proportion of these patients are ignorant of the complication and those who experience it are not freely disposed to discuss it with their physicians during their routine clinic visit. Keywords: Priapism, Sickle Cell Disease, Adult

Haematology Request Forms at a New Tertiary Health Institution in North central, Nigeria: Evaluation of Level of Compliance with Entries and the Impact on Results

Meticulous completion of the haematology request forms is an essential component of pre-analytical protocol. This process that contributes to the quality of laboratory results is critical for patient management. We set out to determine the level and adequacy of information provided when haematological investigations are requested and its impact on patient management.Requests forms submitted for haematological examinations were checked for completeness. The number of times items on the forms that were properly filled and omitted were recorded. The rate of compliance with filling in each item was determined. Comparisons were made between physicians and surgeons and among departments. Descriptive analysis of the data generated was carried out. Four thousand request forms were analyzed for completeness. 26.5 % (1060) were completely filled while 73.5% (2940) had one or more omissions. Client's name was filled in 100% of the forms while the item with the lowest level of compliance (56.3%) was the time of specimen collection. On the average, the rate of completeness of the forms was 86.6%. Physicians significantly completed the request forms more than the surgeons (32.8% vs 19.2%, p=0.0001). Department of Medicine had the highest completion rate of 43.7%, followed by Paediatrics 20.6%, Obstetrics and Gynaecology was 19.5% and the least was Surgery 18.8%. Incomplete information on the request forms lead to non-interpretation of 21.5% of the laboratory requests by the laboratory physicians. This study revealed low compliance with the supply of information required in the request form at the Benue State University Teaching Hospital, Makurdi. This negatively impacted on the interpretation of the laboratory results. Modification of medical curriculum, education of clinicians, introduction of electronic requesting and rejection of request forms lacking critical items are being recommended.Keywords: Haematology request form, Evaluation, Nigeria, and Tertiary Hospita