Prevalence of low back pain and associated factors among office workers in Kano city, Nigeria

Background: Many studies across the globe have reported the prevalence of low back pain (LBP) among office workers. This study aimed to find out the prevalence of LBP and associated factors among office workers in Kano city, Nigeria.Methods: A cross-sectional type of study was conducted among the office workers in Kano metropolitan from September to December 2019. A total of 300 office workers were selected using a convenience sampling technique. The data was collected from the respondents by face-to-face interview technique using a semi-structured questionnaire and all the data collected were analyzed using statistical software (SPSS version 22.0).Results: In this study, the mean age of the respondents was 38.6±9.6 years and 72.7% of them were male. More than half (54.7%) of the respondents had a bachelor's degree and above. About 71.3% of the respondents had a familial history of LBP. About 68.0% of the respondents had suffered musculoskeletal disorder in the past and the majority (54.4%) mentioned they suffered hip pain. Only 33.7% of the respondents were maintaining the proper posture and 37.7% of the respondents were using an ergonomic chair.Conclusions: The findings of this study found a 65.3% prevalence of low back pain among the office workers in Kano metropolitan. Office workers should be encouraged to maintain proper postures at work and there is a need for more educational programs regarding the prevention measures of low back pain

Geochemical Modeling of Trivalent Chromium Migration in Saline-Sodic Soil during Lasagna Process: Impact on Soil Physicochemical Properties

Trivalent Cr is one of the heavy metals that are difficult to be removed from soil using electrokinetic study because of its geochemical properties. High buffering capacity soil is expected to reduce the mobility of the trivalent Cr and subsequently reduce the remedial efficiency thereby complicating the remediation process. In this study, geochemical modeling and migration of trivalent Cr in saline-sodic soil (high buffering capacity and alkaline) during integrated electrokinetics-adsorption remediation, called the Lasagna process, were investigated. The remedial efficiency of trivalent Cr in addition to the impacts of the Lasagna process on the physicochemical properties of the soil was studied. Box-Behnken design was used to study the interaction effects of voltage gradient, initial contaminant concentration, and polarity reversal rate on the soil pH, electroosmotic volume, soil electrical conductivity, current, and remedial efficiency of trivalent Cr in saline-sodic soil that was artificially spiked with Cr, Cu, Cd, Pb, Hg, phenol, and kerosene. Overall desirability of 0.715 was attained at the following optimal conditions: voltage gradient 0.36 V/cm; polarity reversal rate 17.63 hr; soil pH 10.0. Under these conditions, the expected trivalent Cr remedial efficiency is 64.75 %

Health, well-being, and burnout amongst Early Career Doctors in Nigeria.

BackgroundEarly Career Doctors (ECDs) in Nigeria are faced with many individual and systemic problems, which consequently adversely affect their health, well-being, patient care and safety.ObjectiveThis study, the second phase of the Challenges of Residency Training and Early Career Doctors in Nigeria (CHARTING II) Study, sought to examine the risk factors and contributors to the health, well-being and burnout amongst Nigerian ECDs.MethodsThis was a study of health, well-being and burnout amongst Nigerian ECDs. Outcome variables included burnout, depression, and anxiety, which were respectively assessed using the Copenhagen Burnout Inventory (CBI) and Oldenburg Burnout Inventory (OLBI), Patient Health Questionnaire (PHQ-9) depression scale, and Generalized Anxiety Disorder (GAD-7) scale. The quantitative data obtained was analysed using the IBM SPSS, version 24. Associations between categorical outcome and independent variables were assessed using chi square, with level of significance set at ResultsThe mean body mass index (BMI), durations of smoking and alcohol consumption of the ECDs were 25.64 ± 4.43 kg/m2 (overweight range), 5.33 ± 5.65 years and 8.44 ± 6.43 years respectively. Less than a third (157, 26.9%) of the ECDs exercised regularly. The most common disease conditions affecting the ECDs were musculoskeletal (65/470, 13.8%) and cardiovascular diseases (39/548, 7.1%). Almost a third (192, 30.6%) of the ECDs reported experiencing anxiety. Male and lower cadre ECDs were more likely than female and higher cadre ECDs to report anxiety, burnout and depression.ConclusionThere is an urgent need to prioritize the health and well-being of Nigerian ECDs, so as to optimize patient care and improve Nigeria's healthcare indices