Psychoactive substance use and level of risk among a geriatric population accessing three primary care facilities in Nigeria

We aimed to assess the prevalence, correlates of psychoactive substance use including misuse of prescription medications and its associated harm among a group of elderly patients attending three primary care facilities in Benin-city, Edo state, Nigeria. The WHO ASSIST was administered to assess for psychoactive substance use and level of risk of some elderly participants. Lifetime prevalence and current prevalence of substance use was obtained. Among participants, 12.7% demonstrated moderate risk to alcohol use while 2.9% demonstrated high risk to its use. Fifteen percent (15%) demonstrated moderate risk to stimulant use while 1.2% demonstrated high risk to its use. Twentyeight percent (28.3%) demonstrated  moderate risk to opioid analgesic use while 0.6% demonstrated high risk to its use. Male gender was associated with a higher risk of tobacco use, alcohol use and stimulant use. Female gender was associated with a higher risk of sedative use. Only 3(1.7%) of these participants had received   previous treatment for a substance use disorder. Keywords: Elderly, primary care, substance use, prescription medication, level of ris

Self-reported psychological distress and its relationship with religiousness of Nigerian physicians: A multicenter study

Physicians are prone to psychological distress, and this has been poorly studied in association with religiousness. As a result, the prevalence of psychological distress among physicians and its relationship with religiousness was investigated. The study was conducted at two neuropsychiatric centers, and two teaching hospitals in the South-South and South-West regions of Nigeria. Demographics and practice-related characteristics of 231 physicians were collected in addition to report on psychological distress using the 12-item General Health Questionnaire, and a religiousness measuring scale, Ironson–Woods Spirituality/Religiosity Index. Chi-square and t-test analyses were done using SPSS version 19. The prevalence rate of significant psychological distress among physicians was 19.05%. The physicians’ specialty of practice fell short of statistically significant association with religiousness (X2=9.02, p=0.06). There was no significant association between physicians’ state of health and religiousness. Psychological distress is fairly common among physicians and shows no relationship with religiousness

Excessive daytime sleepiness, nocturnal sleep duration and psychopathology among Nigerian university students

Background and objectives. Short nocturnal sleep duration resulting in sleep debt may be a cause of excessive daytime sleepiness (EDS). Severity of depression (psychopathology) has been found to be directly related to EDS. There is an association between sleep duration and mental health, so there may therefore be an interrelationship between sleep duration, EDS and psychopathology. The objectives of this study were to determine the prevalence rates of EDS and general psychopathology among university students in Nigeria; determine the range of and mean sleep duration in the students; and determine the extent to which sleep duration and EDS predict general psychopathology in the same group of subjects. Materials and methods. Eight hundred and forty-five students at Obafemi Awolowo University, Ile-Ife, Nigeria, were recruited for the study. The subjects were required to provide information on their age, gender and the total amount of sleep per night they usually had. General psychopathology was assessed using the English language version of the 30-item General Health Questionnaire (GHQ-30). They were also evaluated for EDS using the English language version of the Epworth Sleepiness Scale (ESS). Results. Six hundred and thirty-four subjects (75.03% of the participants) provided complete data. The prevalence of EDS was 11.2% and the rate of general psychopathology in the subjects 13.1%. The range of sleep duration was 2 - 9 hours with a mean of 5.1 hours (standard deviation 1.3). On a regression model with the GHQ score as the dependent variable and sleep duration and ESS as the independent variables, the correlation coefficient between EDS, sleep duration and psychopathology (R) was 0.47. Conclusion. EDS and psychopathology are common in the student population studied. Nocturnal sleep duration for an average student is far less than that for an average adult. Nocturnal sleep duration and EDS acted as moderate predictors of general psychopathology among Nigerian university students