Ethical Principles & Responsible Conduct in Research

Research has made important contribution to the progress and development of society. As a systematic and organized activity, the conduct of research must be guided by some ethical rules and guidelines in all the six phases of research including conception of the research, approval from a properly constituted ethics review committee, data collection, data analysis, report writing and dissemination. Research ethics is the application of rules or guidelines for the conduct of research. Ethics has important roles to play in all stages of research, from the conception of the research to the dissemination of the findings. The principles of research that regulate the conduct of research are respect for persons, beneficence, justice, and non-maleficence. Responsible researchers must apply these principles to ensure that research is conducted in ways that ensure that both the goals of science and ethics are achieved. Researchers have scientific and ethical obligation to conduct research with the highest degree of responsibilit

Mobile Instant Messaging (MIM) to support teaching practice: Insights from a nurse tutor program in Nigeria

AimTo determine the feasibility of using the Mobile Instant Messaging (MIM) platform, WhatsApp, to provide supervision and support for student nurse tutors during a teaching practice placement in Nigeria. Methods A descriptive qualitative method was used to design and evaluate a six-week WhatsApp group discussion intervention among 19 student nurse tutors. Two pre-intervention focus group sessions (n=9 and n=10) and a workshop were conducted to assess the students’ content needs and media usage, and to develop a short online supervisory curriculum. To evaluate the intervention, two focus group sessions (n=9 and n=9) were carried out, transcribed verbatim, and analysed together with the actual WhatsApp conversations using thematic content analysis.Findings The participants found the WhatsApp-enabled learning space valuable, in particular for the transfer and application of knowledge in their day-to-day teaching practice and, more generally, for their professional development. There were rich and multifaceted indicators of learning and professional development in evidence which were mostly triggered by specific facilitation techniques. The four themes from the WhatsApp conversations are: (1) sharing and discussing “tricks of the trade”; (2) providing direction and triggering reflective (teaching) practice; (3) sparking professional discussions and announcing professional development opportunities; and (4) maintaining a continuous moderating and teaching “presence”. ConclusionDespite some technical challenges centred mainly on the accessibility of the MIM space, the study identified indicators of good supervision practice and the results point to the feasibility and value of MIM to enhance supervision during teaching practice

The Relevance of Integrity in Research and Publication

Scholarly publication is a verifiable indicator of academic achievement. The benefits of scholarly publications are numerous for authors: respect among peers, promotion, and global visibility. Of the existing outlets of dissemination, most scientists rely on journals to disseminate their work mainly because of peer review, a quality control mechanism in which an informed third party scrutinizes the rigor of the scientific methodology and the ethical integrity of the work described in the manuscript, before it is published by the journal

Hosting the 16th AHILA Conference in Ibadan, Nigeria: organization, achievements, challenges and lessons learnt

Attending a scientific conference offers researchers several potential benefits including opportunity to present and receive constructive feedback from professional colleagues. Organizing such conference is also beneficial to the hosts who can acquire skills for coordination, communication and networking. However, the process is fraught with many challenges. One hundred and nine professionals attended the 16th AHILA conference from 22 countries in Africa, Europe and United States of America. The conference agenda was balanced, integrating skills acquisition, information for career development, sources of evidence-based free e-resources, including databases, and e-books for libraries covering health-related topics. This article describes achievement, challenges and lessons learnt in hosting the conference and could serve as a guide for health information professionals planning a similar conference in the future

Risky Sexual Behaviour and Experience of Sexual Coercion Among University Students in Ibadan, Nigeria

Risky sexual behaviours increase the likelihood of contracting sexually transmitted diseases. Undergraduates are peculiarly at a high risk of exposure to risky sexual behaviours because many are becoming free from parental influences and monitoring for the first time in life as well as peer pressures. This study examined the prevalence of risky sexual behaviour and the experience of sexual coercion among clinical students of the College of Medicine, University of Ibadan, Nigeria. This was a descriptive cross-sectional study carried out among 300 level to 600 level clinical students of the College of Medicine, University of Ibadan using a self-administered questionnaire. There were 399 participants. The male-female distribution was 52.1% and 47.9% respectively. 84.4% fell within the 20 to 24 age range (mean age of 22.88±2.2). 18% were sexually active, 65% have had at least two sexual partners. Less than half (47%) reported inconsistent condom use while 77% had ever had unprotected sex; 41.9% of females had experienced at least one form of sexual coercion. Gender [p = <0.001, OR (95% CI) = 0.40 (0.26, 0.63)] and department [p=0.003, OR (95% CI) =0.41 (0.23, 0.75)] were found to be significant in predicting experience of sexual coercion. There was a high prevalence of risky sexual behaviour among the sexually active students. In addition, about one-third of all the students who responded to the questionnaire reported an experience of sexual coercion. Hence there is a need to implement sexual and reproductive health interventions in this and similar populations

Experience of Non-consensual Sex among Students in a Tertiary Institution in Ibadan, Nigeria

Non-consensual sex (NCS) is a major problem that disproportionately affects young persons. Studies on NCS in Nigeria have focused on secondary schools students with limited attention paid to students in tertiary institutions. This study therefore explored experiences of NCS among students of a polytechnic in Ibadan, Nigeria. A total of 594 randomly selected students completed - questionnaires which explored experience of NCS and help-seeking behaviour.The mean age of the respondents was 22.7 ± 2.9 years and 58.9% were females. Fifty-six percent of respondents had experienced sexual intercourse; of this number 9.0% reported that their first sexual intercourse was due to rape. Forty-seven percent of the entire sample had ever experienced at least a form of NCS out of which 70.5% were affected during the six months preceding the study. Forms of NCS experienced included unwanted touch of breast or back side (26.4%), attempted rape (14.0%) and rape (5.7%). Rape victims consisted of 5.3% of males and 6.0% of females. Predictors of the experience of NCS were alcohol consumption (Odd Ratio [OR] =1.7, CI =1.17– 2.52), being a female (OR =1.9, CI =1.34 – 2.72) and having a friend of the opposite sex (OR =2.4, CI =1.04–5.52, p =0.04). Well known friends of the victims were the major perpetrators of all forms of NCS. Most (86.6%) of those who reported experience of NCS did not seek redress or medical care. Non-consensual sex remains a major problem among students of tertiary institution. This underscores the need to develop intervention programmes such as health education and sexual harassment prevention policy to reduce young people’s vulnerability to NCS in tertiary institutions

Emergency Contraceptive Pill Knowledge, Attitudes and Dispensing Practices of Pharmacists in Ibadan and Lagos Metropolis, Nigeria

Use of Emergency Contraceptive Pills (ECP) is desirable in Nigeria where there is high rate of unwanted pregnancy. Pharmacists are expected to play important role in promoting use of ECP but few studies have assessed their knowledge, attitude and dispensing practice of this product in Nigeria. A total of 211 randomly selected pharmacists practicing in Ibadan and Lagos metropolis completed a questionnaire that assessed knowledge about ECP, attitude towards this contraceptive and actual dispensing practices. The results showed that the mean age of the respondents was 38.8 (10.9) years. There were more male (57.3%) than female respondents (42.7%). The overall mean knowledge scores for the sample was 8.9 (SD: 2.6) out of 18. No significant difference was found in mean knowledge score of male (9.0) (± 2.6) and female respondents (8.9) (±2.8) (p>0.05). Respondents who had practiced for up to 30 years had significantly higher score (9.1) than those with less years of experience (7.7) (p< 0.05). Forty-three percent claimed they had religious or moral (46.9%) objection to dispensing ECP. The majority (79.1%) had ever dispensed ECP whereas 21.9% had never done so. Of the 167 respondents who had ever dispensed, 94.6% had a stock of ECP on the day of their interview. More respondents from Ibadan than Lagos had ever dispensed ECP (

Knowledge of HIV/AIDS and sexual behaviour among fisherfolks in Ajaokuta and Lokoja, Kogi State, Nigeria

Knowledge of HIV/AIDS and Sexual Behaviour among Fisherfolks in Ajaokuta and Lokoja, Kogi State, Nigeri

Prevalence, knowledge and preventive practices against hypertension among police officers in Ibadan

Background: Hypertension is a major global health problem. Armed forces personnel are at increased risk of hypertension due to the&nbsp; nature of their occupation as early responders. There is dearth of data on knowledge and prevalence of hypertension among police officers in Ibadan, Nigeria. This study was conducted to address this gap in knowledge.Methods: A total of 170 police officers participated in the study. A questionnaire was used to document demographic profile, knowledge and practices to prevent hypertension. Abdominal circumference and blood pressure were measured among study participants. A digital Omron HEM 8712 blood pressure monitor was used to assess BP and a non-stretchable measuring tape was used to determine waist circumference. Hypertension was assessed by &gt;140/90 mmHg and abdominal obesity by &gt;80cm for female and &gt;94cm for male.Results: Mean age of respondents was 36.7±8.4 years; more than half (64.7%) were males. Majority (47.6%) had fair knowledge of hypertension. The prevalence of abdominal obesity and hypertension were 51.7% and 17.5% respectively. About a tenth (11.4%) were both hypertensive and obese. More females than males’ respondents had abdominal obesity (p=0.00); while more males (19.3%) than females (14.0%) were hypertensive (p=0.39). About twothird (68.2%) reported involvement in unhealthy preventive practices including consumption of alcohol, foods high in salt and fat content, and tobacco smoking. Older, married and senior officers were significantly at higher risk of being hypertensive than younger, never married, and junior officers.Conclusion: Police officers have adequate knowledge of hypertension but many in this group are hypertensive. Clinical and educational interventions are recommended to address the problem

Influence of the use of Social-Media and Exposure to Pornography on the Sexual Behaviour of youths in selected tertiary institutions in Southwest Nigeria

Exposure to pornography is fraught with health and social implications. In Nigeria, there is a dearth of information on how youths have been exposed to pornography on social media (SM) and the effects of this on their sexual behaviors (SB). This study described the pattern of SM use, exposure to pornography, and the effects of this exposure on SB of young persons in southwest Nigeria. Two hundred students were randomly selected from two tertiary institutions. Data were collected using a pre-tested questionnaire that explored the respondents’ SM usage pattern, exposure to pornography, and SB. Data were analyzed using descriptive statistics, Chi-square, and logistic regression. The mean age of respondents was 21.4±2.7. The SM in which most of the respondents had accounts were WhatsApp (96.7%) and Facebook (95.3%). Major sexual-related activities undertaken on SM included watching/downloading naked pictures (7.0%) and sex videos (13.5%). A majority (92.5%) of the respondents have been inadvertently exposed to pornography, and the major sources of this exposure were SM (59.3%) and web-based Internet pages (61.5%). While only 68.0% have been intentionally exposed, the major sources of exposure were SM (42.3%) and web-based Internet pages (53.3%). About half (48.5%) have experienced sexual intercourse, out of which 17.5% reported having multiple sexual partners. Recent inadvertent (OR: 4.5, 95%CI: 1.25-16.4) and intentional (OR: 2.3, 95% CI: 1.2-4.8) exposure to pornography were significantly associated with the experience of sexual intercourse. Likewise, recent intentional pornography exposure was significantly associated with having multiple sexual partners (OR: 3.0, 95%CI: 1.1-8.6). SM use with exposure to pornography had notable effects on SB of young persons. Effective interventions should be conducted to reduce this exposure and its associated effects among the target population