Impact of health education intervention on malaria prevention practices among nursing mothers in rural communities in Nigeria

Introduction: Malaria is the most prevalent parasitic endemic disease in Africa, which is preventable, treatable and curable. This study aims to assess the effect of health education intervention on the knowledge, attitude, and prevention practices amongst mothers of under‑five children in a rural area of Ogun State, Nigeria. Materials and Methods: The study design was a quasi‑experimental study carried out in Ijebu North Local Government Area of Ogun State. A multistage random sampling technique was used in choosing the required samples and a semi‑structured questionnaire was used to collect relevant information. A total of 400 respondents were recruited into the study with 200 each in both the experimental and control groups and were followed up for a period of 3 months. Results: There was no statistically significant differences observed between the experimental and control groups. Knowledge of indoor spraying increased from 14.7% to 58.2% (P < 0.001) and window and door nets increased from 48.3% to 74.8% (P < 0.001). The proportion of those with ITN use increased from 50.8% to 87.4% (P < 0.001) while those with practice of maintaining clean environment also increased from 40.4% to 54.5% (P < 0.001). There were no significant changes in all the practice of malaria prevention methods in the control group. Conclusion: This suggests that malaria control can be significantly improved in rural areas, if the caregivers are adequately empowered through appropriate health education intervention though change in attitude and belief may require a longer and persistent effort.Keywords: Health education intervention, knowledge, malaria, nursing mothers, practice, rural NigeriaNigerian Medical Journal | Vol. 54 | Issue 2 | March-April | 201

Factors associated with psychosocial services in ogun state, Nigeria

Background: Belonging to a social network group may influence a person′s decisions to engage in desired behavior. Aim: The objective of our study was to determine factors associated with utilization of psychosocial group services among people living with human immunodeficiency virus acquired immunodeficiency syndrome (PLWHAs) in a Teaching Hospital in Sagamu, Southwestern Nigeria. Settings and Design: This was an analytical cross-sectional study. All consenting PLHAs who attended the anti-retroviral clinic (ART) clinic during the study period were recruited into the study. Materials and Methods: A structured self-administered questionnaire was used to collect relevant information and a total of 205 PLWHAs were interviewed. Statistical Analysis Used: The data analysis focused on univariate frequency table and bivariate cross tabulations that identify important relationships between the variables. Odds ratio (OR) at 95% confidence level (CI) and Chi-squared and t-tests were also computed. Results: The overall point utilization of psychosocial services among the PLWHAs was 23.4%. Utilization of psychosocial services was statistically significantly associated with religion (χ2 = 11.74, P = 0.003), disclosure of human immunodeficiency virus status (χ2 = 9.18, P = 0.01) and satisfactory self-reported health-related quality-of-life (HRQOL) (χ2 = 5.67, P = 0.017) while sex (χ2 = 0.02, P = 0.96), education (χ2 = 4.67, P = 0.32) tribe (χ2 = 1.46, P = 0.48) adherence to ART drugs (χ2 = 0.44, P = 0.51), mental health status (χ2 = 0.64, P = 0.42) and occupation (χ2 = 3.61, P = 0.61) were not. The only predictor of utilization of psychosocial group services was religion (OR = 0.44, CI = 0.23-0.84). Conclusion: This study shows the effectiveness of the psychosocial networks group in improving the overall HRQOL of the PLWHAs

Screening for common occupational health diseases among long distance professional drivers in Sagamu, Ogun State, Nigeria

Background: Long term exposure to hazards at the work place is injurious to health and usually leads to diseased conditions. The objective of this study was to determine the occupational health problems associated with driving among the professional drivers in Sagamu, Ogun state, Nigeria. Methods: This study is a cross-sectional study. Total sample of all the consenting professional drivers in the five interstate motor parks, including the cement factory [WAPCO] in the local government area, were recruited into the study. An interviewer administered structured questionnaire was administered by trained health workers and respondents were screen for common occupational health problems. Results: A total of 400 professional drivers were interviewed, all [100%] of them were males with age range from 21 to 59 yrs and nearly half [42%] were non indigenes. Only half, 208 [52%] of them were married with majority, 232 [58.0%] working for about 12 hrs daily and 46% of them had been working for 5 yrs or more. Most, 382 [95.5%] had been educated on HIV/AIDS before and 313 [78.3%] of them had multiple sexual partners. Only 241 [60.3%] used condom at the last sexual act and 55 [13.5%] had ever been tested for HIV/AIDS. Common occupational health diseases were renal tubular acidosis (RTA) 52 [13%] in the last one year and most of them currently have myalgia 352 [88.0%], upper respiratory tract infections (URTI) 20 [5.0%], sexually transmitted diseases (STD) 15 [3.8%], short sightedness 41 [10.3%], and Hypertension 90 [22.5%]. Conclusions: The study shows that common occupational diseases among long distance professional drivers in Western Nigeria were myalgia, upper respiratory tract infection, hypertension, short sightedness, sexually transmitted diseases, and RTA. Prevention and control of these common diseases among the drivers will lead to reduction of road traffic accidents in Western Nigeria and other low income countries