Ageing and Incidence of Osteoarthritis of the Knee Joint, Lumbar and Cervical Spine at the University of Ibadan, Nigeria

It has been observed that the most frequently reported disorder of the elderly is osteoarthritis associated with aging. The elderly thus tend to use health services more often. This study examined the incidence, age and gender distribution of osteoarthritis of the knee joint, lumbar and cervical spine among the elderly at the University of Ibadan Health Centre. The study adopted a non-experimental descriptive design. The study population consisted of adults aged 45-85 years diagnosed with osteoarthritis. The respondents consisted of 209 males and 277 females. Retrospective records of cases of osteoarthritis between July 2007 and June 2008 were retrieved with permission. Data was analysed using the chi-square test to determine the relationship between gender, age and occurrence of osteoarthritis. The results showed that the incidence of osteoarthritis in the lumbar spine was the highest – 175 (36%), followed by the cervical spine – 159 (32.7%), and the knee joint–152 (31.3%). There was a significant difference in the distribution of osteoarthritis between gender and within the age groups (P=0.000). Osteoarthritis of the lumbar spine was the highest in males within the age groups of 61-65, followed by 45- 50, 56 - 60, and 51 - 55; whereas in the females, osteoarthritis of the knee joint was the highest within the age groups of 56 - 60, followed by 45 - 50, 61 - 65, 81 - 85 and 71-75. The incidence of osteoarthritis seemed the same in males and females but the distribution varied between gender and within age groups. It was recommended that further studies should be considered in the area of the relationship between the nature of job and incidence of osteoarthritis to find out why osteoarthritis of the knee joint, the lumbar and cervical spine are peculiar to some individuals

Secondary School Adolescents' Perception of Risk in Sexual Behaviour in Rural Community Of Oyo State, Nigeria.

Background: Adolescents' low perception of risk associated with sexual behaviour has been identified as one of the reproductive health problems contributing to teenage pregnancy, unsafe abortion and sexually transmitted infections (STIs).Objective: The study aimed at involving adolescents in school-based health promotion activities as a strategy to improve their perception of risk in sexual behaviour.Method: A quasi-experimental design was adopted for this study using intervention and control groups. This was done during a six months school-based participatory peer-educators' health promotion activities in selected secondary schools in Oyo State, Nigeria. The schools were randomly allocated the intervention and control status. The intervention group was exposed to the health promotion activities, pre and post intervention data were analysed for comparison.Results: Results showed statistically significant improvement in the perception of risk in sexual behaviour among adolescents in the intervention group compared with the control group (P< .05). About 60% of the adolescents in the intervention group were able to perceive danger in having many sexual partners compared with 34% in the control group. There was no statistically significant effect of gender on perception of risk in sexual behaviour (P> .05). This implies that among the adolescents in the intervention group who perceived danger in having multiple sexual partners, level of perception was the same for both males and females.Conclusion: Based on the outcome of the study, it was recommended that adolescents' active participation in health promotion activities should be encouraged.Keywords: Adolescents, perception of risk, sexual behaviour, active participation, health promotion

Seroprevalence of HTLV -I/II amongst Blood Donors in Osogbo, Nigeria.

Background: HTLV type I/II is a blood borne infection that can be transmitted via blood transfusion.Objective: To determine the seroprevalence of human T – lymphotropic virus among blood donors in Osogbo, Nigeria.Methods: Diagnosis of Human T. Lymphotropic virus antigen was carried out on 372 serum samples among blood donors who visited the blood bank/transfusion unit of Ladoke Akintola University of Technology  Teaching Hospital and Our Lady of Fatima Catholic Hospital, Osogbo between January and July 2008 using Enzyme linked immunosorbent  assay techniques (ELISA) as described by the manufacturer. Western  blotting was used to confirm the serum reactive samples from ELISA.Results: Out of 372 samples analyzed, 14 (3.6%) samples were found to be positive for HTLV-I/II (7 HTLV-I and 7 HTLV-II) while 358 (96.4%) samples were negative after confirmation with Western blotting. The seroprevalence of HTLV-I/II among the blood donors in Osogbo, Nigeriawas found to be 3.6%. This has major implication for the blood transfusion service in Nigeria.Conclusion: The study concluded that there is need for screening of blood donor for HTLV-I/II in order to rule out this transfusion related infection.Keywords: human T-lymphotropic virus, T-cell leukaemia,  myelopathy/tropical spasticparaparesis

Prevalence of psychiatric disorders in HIV patients in the Central Region of Ghana

Background: Literature reveals that there is an association between HIV infection and mental disorders.Objective: The study aimed at examining the prevalence of psychiatric disorders in HIV infected individuals cared for at the Central Regional Hospital, a referral hospital in Cape Coast, Ghana.Method: This was a cross-sectional study. A standardized questionnaire was used to collect epidemiological and clinical data. Mini International Neuropsychiatric Interview (MINI) was used to evaluate psychiatric disturbances. Two hundred and six HIV patients (females, 120 and males, 86) were assessed using Mini International Neuropsychiatric Interview (MINI) for mental disorders. Socio demographic and clinical information were collected from patient's records with permission from the hospital authority. The statistical package for social sciences (SPSS) was used for the analysis.Results: The prevalence of psychiatric disorder was 146 (70.9%). The psychiatric conditions identied were mood disorders (depression and mania) and anxiety disorders (General anxiety, agoraphobia, social phobia, obsessive-compulsive disorder and post traumatic stress disorder).Conclusion: Findings suggest that there is need to consider mental and psychological care of clients with HIV/AIDS to minimise the prevalence of psychiatric disorder among HIV clients.Keywords: Prevalence, Psychiatric disorder, HIV infection, Mental challenge

Maternal and child health interventions in Nigeria: a systematic review of published studies from 1990 to 2014

BACKGROUND: Poor maternal and child health indicators have been reported in Nigeria since the 1990s. Many interventions have been instituted to reverse the trend and ensure that Nigeria is on track to achieve the Millennium Development Goals. This systematic review aims at describing and indirectly measuring the effect of the Maternal, Newborn, and Child Health (MNCH) interventions implemented in Nigeria from 1990 to 2014. METHODS: PubMed and ISI Web of Knowledge were searched from 1990 to April 2014 whereas POPLINE® was searched until 16 February 2015 to identify reports of interventions targeting Maternal, Newborn, and Child Health in Nigeria. Narrative and graphical synthesis was done by integrating the results of extracted studies with trends of maternal mortality ratio (MMR) and under five mortality (U5MR) derived from a joint point regression analysis using Nigeria Demographic and Health Survey data (1990-2013). This was supplemented by document analysis of policies, guidelines and strategies of the Federal Ministry of Health developed for Nigeria during the same period. RESULTS: We identified 66 eligible studies from 2,662 studies. Three interventions were deployed nationwide and the remainder at the regional level. Multiple study designs were employed in the enrolled studies: pre- and post-intervention or quasi-experimental (n = 40; 61%); clinical trials (n = 6;9%); cohort study or longitudinal evaluation (n = 3;5%); process/output/outcome evaluation (n = 17;26%). The national MMR shows a consistent reduction (Annual Percentage Change (APC) = -3.10%, 95% CI: -5.20 to -1.00 %) with marked decrease in the slope observed in the period with a cluster of published studies (2004-2014). Fifteen intervention studies specifically targeting under-five children were published during the 24 years of observation. A statistically insignificant downward trend in the U5MR was observed (APC = -1.25%, 95% CI: -4.70 to 2.40%) coinciding with publication of most of the studies and development of MNCH policies. CONCLUSIONS: The development of MNCH policies, implementation and publication of interventions corresponds with the downward trend of maternal and child mortality in Nigeria. This systematic review has also shown that more MNCH intervention research and publications of findings is required to generate local and relevant evidence