Knowledge, practice and acceptability of HPV vaccine by mothers of adolescent girls in Ilorin, Nigeria

Background: Human Papilloma Virus (HPV) is a sexually transmitted cause of carcinoma of the cervix. An important determinant of the success of a primary preventive strategy like HPV vaccination is the knowledge and willingness of parents to vaccinate adolescents before sexual debut. Materials and methods of study: A cross sectional descriptive survey of mothers of girls in 8 secondary schools in Ilorin was carried out from February to April 2015. Schools were selected using multi staged sampling. Descriptive and inferential statistics were performed with Chi Square and ANOVA. Results: There were 470 questionnaires returned for analysis out of 600, giving a response rate of 78.3%. One hundred and sixty-one (34.3%) knew HPV to be sexually transmitted infection and 40.4% knew it was the cause of cervical cancer. While 35.1% were aware of HPV vaccine, only 1.9% had ever vaccinated their children.Less than half (44.9%) were willing to vaccinate their children. Women with good knowledge of HPV and cervical cancer were more willing to vaccinate their children than women with poor knowledge (P <0.001). Conclusion: There is poor knowledge of HPV and practice of vaccination among mothers in llorin. Willingness of mothers to vaccinate their daughters is suboptimal. Mother’s knowledge is an important determinant of HPV vaccination of adolescents

Knowledge of hand hygiene among medical students in a teaching hospital, Kaduna State, Nigeria

Hand hygiene is an important health issue globally. It is the single most cost-effective and practical measure to reduce the incidence of Health-care associated infections. One of the main reasons for the spread of infection in the healthcare environment is inadequate performance of hand hygiene. According to the World Health Organization (WHO), lack of knowledge of good hand hygiene practices is associated with poor compliance. This study evaluated the knowledge of Hand Hygiene as a basic infection control measure among Medical Students in their clinical years at the Barau Dikko Teaching Hospital, Kaduna state.This is a descriptive, cross-sectional study conducted on 123 Medical students in their fourth and fifth year. Self-administered structured questionnaires based on the questionnaire for hand hygiene knowledge assessment in health care workers from 2009 Global patient safety strategy initiative WHO guidelines were answered by the study participants after obtaining their informed consent. Data was analyzed using SPSS version 22. Level of significance was set at 95%.A total of one hundred and twenty-three students (123) were recruited for the studies, of which 70(56.9%) were in 4th year medical school while 53(43.1%) were in 5th year. Male: Female ratio was 2:1. Majority (96.7%) of them had formal training in hand hygiene but only 34.1% routinely use alcohol hand rub. Medical student in 4th year were found to have a better knowledge in hand hygiene compared to their counterpart in 5th year (P=0.003). Prior formal training in hand hygiene was found to significantly influence the knowledge of medical students (P=0.004).Hand hygiene knowledge is unsatisfactory amongst medical students. Sustained education, training and re-training should be included in their curricular throughout their pre-clinical and clinical years to improve knowledge and invariably, compliance to Hand hygiene performance.Keywords: Hand hygiene, Knowledge, Medical Students, Kaduna Stat

Assessment Of Knowledge And Attitude Towards Family Planning Among Selected Religious Leaders In Ogbomoso, Oyo State, Nigeria

The use of modern family planning methods in developing countries is low. Among reasons for low uptake is religious belief on procreation. This study was designed to assess the knowledge and attitude of family planning among religious leaders in Ogbomoso metropolis of Oyo State, Nigeria. The study is a descriptive cross-sectional study done with the use of interviewer administered semi-structured questionnaire as research tool. Systematic sampling method was used in subject selection. A total of 200 religious leaders (consisting of 100 each from Christian and Islamic religions) were involved in the study. Analysis of the data was done by using SPSS Version 19. The main findings were adequate level of awareness as all respondents have heard and were aware of family planning and 68% of them had good knowledge of it. There was poor knowledge of permanent methods of family planning, cervical caps/diaphragm and implant. There was no significant difference in knowledge scores of the two religious leaders on family planning p=0.06481. The attitude of the religious leaders were positive towards family planning as 85.5% of them had good (positive) attitude towards it. There was no significant difference in attitude scores of the two religious leaders on family planning p=0.3535. There is a need to use religious leaders as a change agent by the stakeholders to increase the uptake and use of family planning in our society. This is necessary because they (religious leaders) are respected individuals in the community whom people, especially their followers, listen to and they have influence on their daily life activities, reproductive health inclusive.Keywords: Knowledge, attitude, family planning, religious leaders, Nigeria

Parental perception of human papillomavirus vaccination of prepubertal girls in Ilorin, Nigeria

Context: Human papillomavirus (HPV) vaccination of young girls is yet to be a routine practice in Nigeria and parents' acceptance may influence immunization of their children. Aims: The aim of this study is to determine beliefs and concerns of parents about HPV vaccination of girls. Subjects and Methods : A cross-sectional survey of parents of girls between 10 and 15 years in 12 selected secondary schools of Ilorin using a self-administered questionnaire designed by researchers was conducted. Statistical Analysis Used: Data analysis involved univariate and bivariate analyses with SPSS version 20. The level of significance for all tests was set at 5%. Results: The respondents were 470 mothers between 31 and 50 years, 58.1% had at least secondary school education, 70.2% were employed, and 22.8% belonged to the upper social class. Of the study participants, 35.1% were aware of HPV vaccine and 33.8% knew that the vaccine was available in Nigeria. While 55.8% of mothers believed that all girls should be vaccinated, 19.5% responded that only sexually active girls should have it. Among all respondents, full protection, need for repeated doses, and age of the girls were significantly related to willingness to vaccinate statistically (P < 0.05). These concerns were not significant among mothers that were aware of HPV vaccines. Conclusions: There is low awareness of HPV vaccine among mothers in Ilorin despite the high prevalence of cervical cancer in our environment. Parental perception of HPV vaccines in terms of concerns and beliefs was significantly related to willingness of mothers to vaccinate their daughters