Assessment of Water Provision and Associated Risks Among Children in Abeokuta Peri-Urban, Ogun State, Southwestern Nigeria: The Gender Implications

An assessment of water supply challenges and risks facing children in selected peri-urban areas of Abeokuta (Akole-Oke Ata, Obatonko, Adigbe) in Ogun, southwestern Nigeria, was carried out during the dry season, in the months of November 2013 to February 2014. Recognizing that the yield of drinking water sources and water supply from the government were drastically reduced during the dry season, in this study, project leaders aimed to determine children’s involvement in household water provision during the dry season in the peri-urban of Abeokuta Ogun State Southwestern Nigeria, and to further determine the gender distribution, risks and risk indicators, and occurrence of problems among the children during water provision. In the course of the study, a total of 100 water sources (piped water taps, boreholes, dug wells, burst pipes, streams) were visited, and focus group discussion/informal interview methodologies were adopted to gather data from the people at water points. Approximately 827 of the people met at the water points were children, with 800 of those children being girls between the ages of 5-15. The results from these interactions indicated that the girls from each household were responsible for scouting water sources, as well as transportation and storage of the water for household consumption. Out of 800 girls interviewed, 722 reported being late to school, 712 recorded poor school attendance, 456 reported being sexually harassed and/or assaulted, 166 had experienced injury experienced neck and back pain from carrying an excessive load of water, 99 were physically punished by parents or guardians at home when containers got lost, misplaced, or exchanged at the water points, and 184 were punished by the parents or guardians who believed that the girls wasted the water. Some of the respondents (12) preferred going out to provide the water for the family to avoid other domestic work. The majority said they wanted the government and/or parents/guardians to be responsible for adequate water provision for household consumption

Assessment of Perceived Health and Environmental Problems of Household Energy Consumption among Ilese Ijebu Residents Southwestern Nigeria

The study was carried out among Ilese-Ijebu residents southwestern Nigeria, to assess their perceived health and environmental problems associated with different sources of household energy use for cooking, then their perception and acceptability of adopting other alternative source of energy (biogas). A focused group discussion and self-structured questionnaire administration methodologies were adopted to elicit information on their current energy sources and adoption for alternative energy source (biogas). The researchers randomly selected twenty five (25) households to include the total sample size of one hundred (100) and organized an interactive session on the subject matter, during which three prepared forms were given out to the participants to filled their demographics characteristics, sources of energy for household cooking with associated health and environmental problems and perception and acceptability of biogas, descriptive statistics and likert scale technique were used to analyze the results obtained. The results of the analysis showed that, the respondents do make use of more than one source of energy for cooking, kerosene stoves (95), firewood (63), charcoal stove(32), while lesser people made use of liquefied gas (12) and electricity (5). Average numbers of respondents 50-60 are aware of associated health and environmental problems with firewood and charcoal, but not ready to use electricity and liquefied gas because of bills and fire hazards when the energy sources is  not properly handled. However, the likert scale results of the positive score of 227 and the negative score of 598 on the acceptability of use of biogas for domestic cooking indicating that, presently, the residents are not ready to adopt the biogas as the alternative energy. Therefore, there is need to organize massive awareness campaign, health education talks among the residents on the effect of air pollution associated with household energy sources and consumption, health and financial benefits of adopting other alternative clean energy source

Adaptation of the Wound Healing Questionnaire universal-reporter outcome measure for use in global surgery trials (TALON-1 study): mixed-methods study and Rasch analysis

BackgroundThe Bluebelle Wound Healing Questionnaire (WHQ) is a universal-reporter outcome measure developed in the UK for remote detection of surgical-site infection after abdominal surgery. This study aimed to explore cross-cultural equivalence, acceptability, and content validity of the WHQ for use across low- and middle-income countries, and to make recommendations for its adaptation.MethodsThis was a mixed-methods study within a trial (SWAT) embedded in an international randomized trial, conducted according to best practice guidelines, and co-produced with community and patient partners (TALON-1). Structured interviews and focus groups were used to gather data regarding cross-cultural, cross-contextual equivalence of the individual items and scale, and conduct a translatability assessment. Translation was completed into five languages in accordance with Mapi recommendations. Next, data from a prospective cohort (SWAT) were interpreted using Rasch analysis to explore scaling and measurement properties of the WHQ. Finally, qualitative and quantitative data were triangulated using a modified, exploratory, instrumental design model.ResultsIn the qualitative phase, 10 structured interviews and six focus groups took place with a total of 47 investigators across six countries. Themes related to comprehension, response mapping, retrieval, and judgement were identified with rich cross-cultural insights. In the quantitative phase, an exploratory Rasch model was fitted to data from 537 patients (369 excluding extremes). Owing to the number of extreme (floor) values, the overall level of power was low. The single WHQ scale satisfied tests of unidimensionality, indicating validity of the ordinal total WHQ score. There was significant overall model misfit of five items (5, 9, 14, 15, 16) and local dependency in 11 item pairs. The person separation index was estimated as 0.48 suggesting weak discrimination between classes, whereas Cronbach's α was high at 0.86. Triangulation of qualitative data with the Rasch analysis supported recommendations for cross-cultural adaptation of the WHQ items 1 (redness), 3 (clear fluid), 7 (deep wound opening), 10 (pain), 11 (fever), 15 (antibiotics), 16 (debridement), 18 (drainage), and 19 (reoperation). Changes to three item response categories (1, not at all; 2, a little; 3, a lot) were adopted for symptom items 1 to 10, and two categories (0, no; 1, yes) for item 11 (fever).ConclusionThis study made recommendations for cross-cultural adaptation of the WHQ for use in global surgical research and practice, using co-produced mixed-methods data from three continents. Translations are now available for implementation into remote wound assessment pathways