Awareness of hypertension and its risk factors in Maiduguri, north eastern Nigeria

Objectives: To determine the level of awareness of hypertension and its risk factors in Gwange community of Maiduguri North-eastern Nigeria. Method: A community based cross sectional study in Gwange community of Maiduguri, a major city in North-eastern Nigeria. Participants were selected through a stratified randomize sample method. Demographic data including age, gender, marital status, highest educational qualification and occupation were recorded. Information on awareness of hypertension and level of awareness of risk factors for hypertension were also obtained. Blood pressure was taken once on the left arm using a standard mercury sphygmomanometer. Results: In all, 485(175 females) were included. The study showed a statistically significant higher level of awareness among young individuals with declining trend with aged (p=0.01). The study also recorded a statistically significant difference in the level of awareness of hypertension among individuals with different educational levels attained, with secondary and tertiary levels of education having higher awareness (p=0.00) and also a statistically significant difference in the awareness of hypertension among different occupational groups, with higher awareness among artisans and professionals. (p=0.00). The study found 13 (6.5%) hypertensives among 199 individuals who are not aware of the risk factors for hypertension, 38 (21.6%) hypertensives among 176 individuals who are aware of one risk factor for hypertension, 12 (23.5%) hypertensives among 51 individuals who are aware of two risk factors for hypertension, and 11 (26.8%) hypertensives among 41 individuals who are aware of three or more risk factors for hypertension. Conclusion: Awareness of hypertension among hypertensives is higher than in normotensives with statistically significant higher awareness of its risk factors. Awareness is also found to be higher among people of young age group, secondary and tertiary levels of education and also among artisans and professional. Special attention should be given to those leaving in remote villages and those least aware or treated in view of the consequences of hypertension on multiple organs and regular blood pressure check should be recommended to all individuals at risk

Risk factors for hepatitis C virus sero-positivity among haemodialysis patients receiving care at Kidney Centre in a tertiary health facility in Maiduguri, Nigeria

Hepatitis C virus (HCV) is an important health care problem in haemodialysis. Hepatitis C virus is both a cause and complication of kidney diseases. Yet there are limited information on antibody against HCV in patients on haemodialysis. The purpose of this study was to determine the prevalence of anti-HCV and the risk factors associated with HCV infection in a cohort of 100 participants on haemodialysis. They were consecutively recruited into the study, anti-HCV testing was made by the 3rd-generation ELISA System (C-100, C-33c, C-22). The prevalence of HCV antibody was 15%, risk factors associated with HCV antibody were history of blood transfusion and duration of session of haemodialysis; the risk increased with increased with the number of blood transfusion and seasons of haemodialysis. The observed high prevalence of HCV antibody among patients on haemodialysis reflect the quality of healthcare services and the standards of infection control practices in our haemodialysis units. Routine screening for HCV should be done before blood transfusion using third generation ELISA assays with high sensitivity and specificity. Safety measures should be taken in our haemodialysis units to prevent cross infection among patients and staffs. These safety measures include; discarding syringes, needles, gloves, bloodlines and dialysers after single use, and the use of sterile dressings on each patient visit

Renal diseases: caregivers' knowledge, attitude and practice in North Eastern Nigeria

Lack of awareness of renal diseases among the parents/ care givers of children can contribute to the development of childhood chronic kidney disease (CKD). Awareness of kidney disease by the care givers of children can improve their health seeking behaviour and reduce the significant economic and public health burden. We conducted a cross-sectional descriptive study to assess the knowledge, attitude and practice of renal diseases among the care givers of children attending University of Maiduguri Teaching Hospital. Management of CKD is very expensive especially in the third world where most care givers are poor and cannot afford the cost of renal replacement therapy like dialysis and renal transplant. This underscores the determination of knowledge, attitude and practice of parents/ care givers on childhood renal diseases. Objective: To assess the knowledge, attitude and practices on renal diseases among the care givers of children attending a tertiary hospital in north eastern Nigeria. Method: This cross-sectional study was conducted among mothers or caregivers of children receiving care in the department of Paediatrics of a Teaching Hospital, Borno state. Mothers/ caregivers were consecutively selected as they come to the hospital and 420 subjects were interviewed through a self-administered questionnaire. Each subject was interviewed on his or her knowledge, attitude and practice of childhood renal diseases and data was entered appropriately into the different sections of the study questionnaires. Data was analysed using Epi-info statistical software (version 7.0). Informed consent was obtained from the parents and confidentiality to any information disclosed by the mother was ensured. Results: The ages of the respondents ranged from 18 – 67 years with amean age of 37.2 (SD±13.6) years. Majority 140 (33.3%) of the respondents were aged 31 – 50 years; p<0.05. Among the respondents, were 255 (60.7%) females and 165 (39.3%) males with male to female ratio of 1: 1.5. The ages of the children ranged from 1 month to 15 years with 239 (56.9%) males and 181 (43.1%) females and male to female ratio of 1.3: 1. There were 267 (63.6%) Muslims and 153 (36.4%) Christians. There were 98 (23.3%) care givers from the upper social class, 120 (28.6%) from the middle social class and 202 (48.1%) from the lower social class. Most mothers (89.2%) had no factor preventing them from seeking medical care. Many (70.7%) of the caregivers took their children to health facilities once sick or developed any symptom of severe childhood disease. Conclusion: Although most of the care givers that participated in this study had knowledge of one form of kidney disease or the other, most had no knowledge of any treatment modality of these kidney diseases

Gender disparity in prevalence and risk factors of chronic Kidney disease among patients with type 2 diabetes in Northeastern Nigeria.

Diabetes mellitus is a metabolic disorder that is responsible for up to 5% of premature deaths worldwide. Diabetic kidney disease is the leading cause of end-stage renal disease. This study aims to evaluate gender disparity in prevalence and risk factors of diabetic kidney disease in northeastern Nigeria. Methodology: The study population consisted of adult patients with type 2 diabetesrecruited consecutively at the diabetes clinic of the University of Maiduguri Teaching Hospital, Maiduguri. Socio-demographic and anthropometric variables including age, sex, weight, height, BMI, as well as laboratory parameters, were obtained from each patient. Glomerular filtration rate was derived from the CKD-EPI formula using serum creatinine. Results: Two hundred and sixty-one adult patients with type 2 diabetes were recruited consecutively from the Diabetes outpatient clinic of the University of Maiduguri Teaching Hospital, Maiduguri. There were 167(64%) females and 94(36%) males. The mean ages of males and females were 51.10±12.23 years and 48.76±11.00 years, respectively (p= 0.115). The mean duration of diabetes was similar between males and females (7.24±7.18 vs 6.87±6.02 years, p= 0.652). Females had a higher BMI 2 2 compared with males (28.49±6.27Kg/M2 vs 26.41±4.86Kg/M2 p= 0.003). Fasting blood glucose, Low- density lipoprotein cholesterol and PCV were more deranged in females than among males (9.53±4.72 mmol/L vs 11.10±5.97mmol/L p= 0.020; 2.84±1.03mmol/L vs 3.19±1.03mmol/L p=0.009; 34.49±5.33% vs 33.11±4.54% p= 0.026). Out of the study population, 83(74.1%) females had renal dysfunction compared with 29(25.9%) males. The risk factors for progressive kidney disease among female patients were age >45 years (Exp (B) 1.799, 95% CI= 1.165-3.805) and systolic blood pressure >140mmHg (Exp (B)= 1.592, 95% CI= 0.772- 3.284). Conclusion: Diabetic kidney disease among our cohorts with type 2 diabetes was more prevalent among females compared with males and the risk factors associated with this disparity were older age, high BMI, poor glycaemic control, low PCV and elevated LDL cholesterol

The effectiveness of pharmacist intervention in improving medication adherence in patients with chronic kidney disease: a randomized controlled trial

Background: Chronic kidney disease (CKD) is a global health concern associated with a high risk of cardiovascular disease, end-stage renal failure, and premature death. The interventions of pharmacists in chronic disease management have been promising. However, there is little evidence of their participation in managing CKD, particularly in developing countries. The objective of this study was to evaluate the influence of pharmacists’ interventions in improving medication adherence in patients with CKD. Methods: This double-arm randomised controlled study was carried out at the nephrology outpatient departments of two Nigerian hospitals. Patients with stage 1 to 4 CKD who visited the hospitals between November 2019 and February 2020 were enrolled. Pharmacists’ interventions included CKD education, dietary suggestions, medication adherence counselling, and telephonic consultations. The usual care (UC) group served as the control and received only ordinary hospital treatment, whereas the pharmaceutical care (PC) group received usual care in addition to pharmacists’ interventions. The influence of pharmacists’ engagement was assessed by recording improvements in adherence scores and creatinine levels after 6 and 12 months, respectively. Using standard statistics, the PC and UC groups were compared at the P < 0.05 significance level. Results: A total of 147 patients (74 in the UC and 73 in the PC group, respectively) completed the study. Baseline variables were comparable between the two groups. Pharmacists’ interventions achieved significant improvement in mean adherence scores at 12 months in the PC group compared to the UC group (0.2 ± 0.6 vs 0.7 ± 1.3, P = 0.003). Also, serum creatinine levels significantly improved in the intervention group compared to the control group at the end of the study (245.9 ± 101.7 µmol/L vs 291.7 ± 140.7 µmol/L, P = 0.025). In the adjusted analysis, participants in the PC group were 2.11 times (P = 0.038) more likely to achieve excellent medication adherence than their counterparts in the UC group. Conclusion: Our findings indicate that pharmacists’ interventions have the potential to improve medication adherence among patients with CKD

Urinary schistosomiasis in Boko Haram-related internally displaced Nigerian children

We aimed to determine the prevalence of urinary schistosomiasis among internally displaced children in Maiduguri, Nigeria. Data on the children’s sociodemographic characteristics and risk factors for schistosomiasis were collected, over a period of six months, using an interview-based questionnaire. Ten milliliter of urine sample was collected from each child and investigated for hematuria and ova of Schistosoma haematobium. Two hundred and thirty-eight of 385 children had urinary schistosomiasis (62.0%); of this, 125 (53.0%) were males, with a male:female ratio of 1.1:1. Urinary schistosomiasis was the most common among 5–9 years’ age group, low social class children, and children of farmers, P <0.05. Stunting was significantly associated with urinary schistosomiasis, P <0.05. It is concluded that urinary schistosomiasis in children was more frequently associated with stunting and low social class. It was a very common disease among internally displaced children in Nigeria