Background: Mental health disorders are increasingly becoming a global concern among university students. The prevalence of depression, anxiety and stress among pharmacy students in Nigeria is unknown. Objective: This study sought to examine the occurrence of depression, anxiety and stress and associated sociodemographic factors among undergraduate pharmacy students in Nigeria. Methods: The study was an online-based cross-sectional descriptive survey conducted among students from seven pharmacy schools in Nigeria. Students were recruited via their class WhatsApp groups and a link to a Google Form was provided for those who agreed to participate in the study. Data were analysed using IBM Statistical Product and Services Solution for Windows version 21.0. Results: A total of 408 students out of approximately 3,068 students responded to the survey (response rate: 13.32%). The prevalence of depression, anxiety and stress was 44.6%, 63.5%, and 35%, respectively. Depression was found to be strongly correlated with stress (r=0.739, p<0.001) and anxiety (r=0.715, p<0.001). Depression, anxiety and stress scores significantly correlated with perceived academic performance and year of study. There was no significant association between gender, cigarette smoking, type of accommodation, and the levels of depression, anxiety, and stress. Conclusion: The prevalence of depression, anxiety and stress among pharmacy students responding to a survey in Nigeria was high. Students in lower years of study and those with perceived poor academic performance had higher levels of depression, anxiety and stress. More studies are needed to explore the causes of depression, anxiety and stress among pharmacy students.

Background: Dolutegravir (DTG) based antiretroviral therapy (ART) has largely replaced Efavirenz (EFV) based therapy as the preferred first-line regimen in the treatment of adults with HIV. This study was carried out to evaluate the comparative cost-effectiveness of DTG and EFV-based ART in HIV-infected treatment-naïve patients in a treatment centre in Nigeria. Methods: This was a retrospective case-control study of patients initiated on DTG vs. EFV-based regimens from January 2018 to December 2019 at the APIN/HAVARD clinic of Nigeria’s Jos University Teaching Hospital. The current viral load result was used to determine treatment effectiveness using a benchmark of ≤200 copies/mL. Sensitivity analysis was carried out to ensure the robustness of the benchmark. The total cost of treatment was obtained by summing up the relevant cost components. Appropriate descriptive and inferential statistics were employed in data analysis using Statistical Product and Services Solutions (SPSS) V.25. The incremental cost-effectiveness ratio of DTG compared to EFV was presented as cost/effectiveness. Results: Treatment was effective in 42(51.9%) and 58(71.6%) patients initiated on DTG and EFV-based regimen, respectively. The incremental cost-effective ratio (ICER) of patients on DTG compared to those on EFV was $10.5076 per effectiveness, which was less than 1% of the Nigerian 2019 per capita Gross Domestic Product. Sensitivity analysis showed the robustness of the result. Conclusion: Efavirenz based regimen had higher treatment effectiveness than DTG-based regimen in treatment-naive patients after initiating treatment in a short term. Compared to EFV, DTG-based regimen is cost-effective in the management of treatment naïve HIV patients. Keywords: Average cost-effectiveness ratio; cost-effectiveness; Dolutegravir.

Background: The COVID-19 pandemic in Nigeria led to a national lockdown that resulted in the suspension of academic activities. Objective: To evaluate the impact of the COVID-19 national lockdown on pharmacy students’ productivity and their coping strategies. Methods: This study involved the cross-sectional collection of responses from undergraduate students of six Nigerian schools of pharmacy. Data was collected using a structured, validated questionnaire in the form of Google form. The data was entered into a statistical product and service solutions software (SPSS, version-25) for analysis. Results: A total of 808 students responded to the questionnaire. The majority of the students’ responses (757, 93.7%) showed that their reading duration had decreased during the lockdown. The most missed variable during the closure by students was ‘school life’ (303, 37.5%). The use of social media (133, 16.5%) was the most common coping strategy. The majority of the students, 544 (67.3%), agreed to participate in the virtual mode of learning. The cost of data was the main challenge to online learning by the students (288, 36.0%). Conclusion: This study shows that the productivity of pharmacy students decreased during the COVID-19 lockdown. Social media and business activities were the most common coping mechanisms of pharmacy students. Pharmacy students were willing to accept virtual learning despite possible challenges.

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Purpose Depression and its symptoms negatively influence the health-related quality of life of patients. This paper aims to explore the occurrence of depressive symptoms and their relationship with health-related quality of life and sociodemographic characteristics. Design/methodology/approach It was a cross-sectional study conducted among patients attending the outpatient psychiatric clinics of two Nigerian hospitals. Data were collected using sociodemographic, PHQ-9 and 15 D questionnaires from a convenience sample of patients. Statistical Product and Services Solution Software (SPSS) version 21.0 was used to evaluate depressive symptoms, health-related quality of life, sociodemographic characteristics and the associations among them. Findings The mean depressive symptoms and health-related quality of life scores were found to be 12.118 ± 4.373 and 0.829 ± 0.141, respectively. The result showed a significant negative correlation (r = −0.318, p < 0.001) between respondents’ depressive symptoms and health-related quality of life. Patients with comorbid conditions reported a significantly higher level of depressive symptoms (p = 0.002) and lower health-related quality of life (p < 0.001). There was a significant difference in the mean health-related quality of life of the respondents across their level of education and marital status. Originality/value Depressive symptoms are a common occurrence in psychiatric conditions. This study provides an insight into the associations between depressive symptoms, socio-demographic factors and the health-related quality of life of psychiatric patients in a low-income country.