Substance abuse in Sagamu Local Government of Ogun State

Background: The increasing drug abuse globally has brought problems of increased violent crimes, transmittable diseases such as HIV/AIDS, Hepatitis B viruses and tuberculosis.Objective: The main objective of this study was to assess substance abuse in Sagamu Local Government, Ogun State.Material and Methods: A cross sectional survey was carried out in Sagamu Local Government, Ogun State, Nigeria. A convenient sample size of 300 respondents (15-50 ± SD years) who satisfied the inclusion and exclusion criteria was used for this study. Self-administered questionnaire were used to collect relevant information from the consented respondents. SPSS was used for data analysis while statistical significance was set at p value < 0.05.Results: Male to female ratio was 1.49:1.51 (p=0.944). While the singles (36.3%) were in the majority, the single parents were 30.3% and the separated were 22.7%. Of the studied population, 40.7% had secondary education while 71.7% were  unemployed. Majority (94.3%) understood which drugs are considered illicit and 76% were involved in illicit drug use of which 49.3% used it for calmness and sleep. Coffee was reported as the most consumed psychoactive drug used by them and their parents (52.7 and 64.3% respectively). Marital problems (46.0%) is a key predisposing factor to the use of illicit drugs while peer influence (42.0%) lured these people into the act.Conclusions: High prevalence of substance abuse among these respondents depicts weakness on the part of regulatory authorities. The commonly abused drugs were coffee and alcohol while the common initiator was peer pressure. Parents should strive to be role models rather than being drunken menace.Keywords: Substance abuse, Parents drug use, Alcohol problems, Ogun stat

Bacteriological evaluation of instant noodles stored under sub-optimal conditions from selected markets in Sagamu- Ibafo axis of Ogun State, Nigeria

This study evaluated 8 brands of 5 packets each of instant noodles for bacterial load, clinical status, and resistance of the isolates to conventional antibiotics, in addition to pH. These brands were cultured on plate count agar for bacterial enumeration while isolates were challenged on selective media for bacteria of clinical status. The antibiogram was determined using standard methods. The pH varied from acidic (4.92) as shown in GPJ 3 to closely neutral (6.94) as recorded in HWJ 2. TTJ1 had the lowest average bacteria count of 1.6 x 103 while BFJ5 with 6.3 x 105 counts was the highest. Prevalence of isolates of Escherichia coli, Staphylococcus aureus, and Pseudomonas aeruginosa varied in the ratio 40:30:30. Of the 40 samples, 8 of the 16 Escherichia coli were resistant to gentamicin, ciprofloxacin, and Augmentin, 7 of the 12 Staphylococcus aureus elicited resistance to ampicillin and cotrimoxazole while 8 of the Pseudomonas aeruginosa were resistant to meropenem, cotrimoxazole, Augmentin, and cephalexin. Presence of bacteria of clinical status, in counts that exceeded recommended safe limits for ready-to-eat noodles and higher numbers of resistant isolates to the antibiotics appropriated, could be attributed to product storage under sub-optimal conditions which portend a public health risk

DIAGNOSTIC AND TREATMENT KNOWLEDGE OF BREAST CANCER AMONG HEALTH PROFESSIONALS

OBJECTIVE: To evaluate the knowledge of breast cancer diagnosis and treatment among female health professionals in a government health institution in Sagamu, Ogun State, Nigeria. DESIGN: Descriptive study. SETTING: Olabisi Onabanjo University Teaching Hospital (OOUTH), Sagamu, Ogun State, Nigeria. SUBJECTS: One hundred and sixty two female health professionals. RESULTS: Study population comprised of doctors (9.3%), nurses (78.4%) and Pharmacists, radiographers and lab scientists (P/L/R) (12.3%) with mean age of 32.97 ± 0.92. The practice durations of the respondents ranged from 0 – 10 years (46.3%) and above 30 years (9.9%). The doctors and the P/L/R had 100% knowledge while the nurses had 96.9% as regards early diagnosis of breast cancer improving survival. The nurses had a higher knowledge (98%) in response to breast cancer can be treated surgically while the doctors had the least knowledge (86.6%), p value=0.021. Knowledge of these professional was also very satisfactory with years of practice as those of above 21years experience had higher knowledge when compared with lower years of experience. CONCLUSION: This study indicated that these female health professionals had a very satisfactory diagnostic and treatment knowledge which is higher than some earlier studies. This knowledge though commendable should be improved upon through consistent education of these professionals

Evaluation of pharmacists' educational and counselling impact on patients' clinical outcomes in a diabetic setting

Background: Nigeria had the highest number of people living with diabetes mellitus in the African region in year 2013. Previous researchers have found that patients with knowledge of their diseases including their treatment methods have a high likelihood to succeed in managing the disease conditions. Many pharmaceutical care programmes which have been successfully applied in various countries to enhance clinical outcomes and health-related quality of life are not very common in Nigeria. Objective: This study was to evaluate pharmacist's educational and counselling impact on diabetic patients' outcomes in a diabetic setting. Materials and Methods: The 4-month randomised controlled study involved 150 elderly Type 2 diabetic patients. Sociodemographic and clinical parameters were measured. We educated and counselled the 75 patients in our intervention group at least four times during the study period, but the control group was deprived of the pharmacist's intervention. Results: Female to male participants was in the ratio of 9:6 and 9:5 in both control and intervention groups, respectively. Majority (>40%) of the patients in both groups had primary education. Baseline and 4-month mean fasting blood sugar in the control group was 162.2 ± 69.1 and 159.9 ± 57.2, respectively (P = 0.825), whereas the intervention group had 156.7 ± 30.5 and 131.8 ± 40.4, respectively (P < 0.001). Mean systolic blood pressure in both groups was 146.4 ± 13.9 and 133.8 ± 18.5 (P < 0.001), respectively. Adherence levels to medication taking in both groups were 42.7%:94.7%, respectively (P = 0.001). Conclusion: This study encourages the inclusion of clinical pharmacists into multidisciplinary healthcare groups in hospital and clinic settings as well as incorporation of this type of intervention into diabetic management programmes for optimal patients' outcomes