Despite the low prevalence rate of smoking in the studied population, a majority of them were not willing to quit because of a low perception of the negative effects of smoking on their health and quality of life. Comprehensive antismoking campaigns were urgently needed to control cigarette smoking among University undergraduates in Nigeria.

Background: Few data exist on the understanding and adherence to the Global Initiative for Chronic Obstructive Lung Disease (GOLD) guidelines in resource-limited settings, which are mostly in sub-Saharan Africa.

BackgroundNational smoking cessation strategies in Nigeria are hindered by lack of up-to-date epidemiologic data. We aimed to estimate prevalence of tobacco smoking in Nigeria to guide relevant interventions.MethodsWe conducted systematic search of publicly available evidence from 1990 through 2018. A random-effects meta-analysis and meta-regression epidemiologic model were employed to determine prevalence and number of smokers in Nigeria in 1995 and 2015.ResultsAcross 64 studies (n = 54,755), the pooled crude prevalence of current smokers in Nigeria was 10.4% (9.0–11.7) and 17.7% (15.2–20.2) for ever smokers. This was higher among men compared to women in both groups. There was considerable variation across geopolitical zones, ranging from 5.4% (North-west) to 32.1% (North-east) for current smokers, and 10.5% (South-east) to 43.6% (North-east) for ever smokers. Urban and rural dwellers had relatively similar rates of current smokers (10.7 and 9.1%), and ever smokers (18.1 and 17.0%). Estimated median age at initiation of smoking was 16.8 years (IQR: 13.5–18.0). From 1995 to 2015, we estimated an increase in number of current smokers from 8 to 11 million (or a decline from 13 to 10.6% of the population). The pooled mean cigarettes consumption per person per day was 10.1 (6.1–14.2), accounting for 110 million cigarettes per day and over 40 billion cigarettes consumed in Nigeria in 2015.ConclusionsWhile the prevalence of smokers may be declining in Nigeria, one out of ten Nigerians still smokes daily. There is need for comprehensive measures and strict anti-tobacco laws targeting tobacco production and marketing.

BackgroundThe increasing importance of pulmonary function testing in diagnosing and managing lung diseases and assessing improvement has necessitated the need for locally derived reference equations from a sample of the general Nigerian population.MethodsIt was a cross sectional study in which we used linear regression models to obtain equations for reference values and lower limits of normal for spirometric indices in adult Nigerians from a sample of the general population aged 18–65 years (males) and 18–63 years (females).ResultsSeven hundred and twenty participants made up of 358 males and 362 females who satisfactorily completed the spirometric measurements using the ATS/ERS reproducibility and acceptability criteria were included in the analysis. The most important predictive variables were height and age. The values of the spirometic indices increase with increasing stature but decrease with increasing age in both sexes. The sex difference in all the indices is also apparent as all the indices, except FEV1/FVC, are higher in men than in women.Our values are higher than values obtained from previous studies in Nigeria (except FEV1/FVC) but the differences were not statistically significant. This suggests that although the values are increasing, the increase is yet to be significantly different from values obtained using the past equations. The implication of this is that there is need for periodic study to derive new equations so as to recognise when there is significant difference.There was no significant difference between values from our equations and those obtained from study among Ethiopians. Compared to report from Iran, our FVC and FEV1values (in males and females) as well as PEFR (in females) are significantly lower. Our values are also lower than values from Poland. We also observed disparities between our values and those of Afro Americans from the GLI study.ConclusionsOur findings show that it is important to always interpret ventilatory function tests in any individual by comparing it with reference values obtained from a well-defined population of healthy subjects of the same ethnic origin in similar geographic location.

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The awareness of lung cancer warning signs and risk factors are not satisfactory in Nigeria. There is a need to increase awareness about the condition to prevent delays in seeking medical help.

Our results show that prevalence of SHS exposure was the highest in public places. These findings underscore the need for enactment of comprehensive smoke-free legislation and implementation of educational strategies to reduce SHS exposure in homes.

Background: There is need for information on the medical care seeking behaviour of Nigerian doctors. Purpose: This work was therefore designed to study the medical care seeking behaviour of Nigerian doctors in Nigeria. Methods: It was a cross-sectional survey among doctors in Nigeria. Results: Data from 522 doctors were included in the analysis. Majority of them (80.5%) had one form of illness or the other in the year preceding the survey. Only 35% of them reportedly consulted another doctor during their illness. Most of the consultations (61.2%) were informal in the form of over the phone (45.6%), Corridor (33.3%) and home visit (21.1%) and just 18.4% of the consultations occurred within 24 h of onset of illness. A low 19.5% of them had a regular source of medical care. Screening for illnesses was generally below expectation. Just 6 out of the 436 (1.4%) male doctors had screened for prostate cancer while 39 out of 86 (45.3%) females had screened for cervical cancer. A significantly higher proportion of general practitioners (p = 0.01) and doctors above 45 years of age (P = 0.004) consulted informally. Higher proportion of general practitioners and resident doctors based their consultations on their familiarity with the doctors consulted (p = 0.001) and privacy during consultation (p = 0.001). Delay in consultation for more than 24 h after onset of illness was more likely in those above below the age of 45 years (p = 0.001). Conclusion: This study has shown that Nigerian doctors are often reluctant patients who frequently tend to delay medical care. The teaching of appropriate medical care seeking behaviour should be incorporated into medical curriculum in Nigeria.