No abstract

No abstract

Background: Prenatal diagnosis of sickle cell disorders provides a couple at risk the opportunity to make informed decisions whether or not to birth a child with Sickle Cell Disease (SCD). Aim: To explore the knowledge of prenatal diagnosis and its acceptability among parents at risk of having another child with SCD Methods: A self-administered structured questionnaire was used to obtain information on socio-demographics, knowledge and attitude towards prenatal diagnosis. The respondents were parents of SCD patients seen at the haematology consultant paediatric clinic of the University of Port Harcourt Teaching hospital. Data were analysed using SPSS version 20.0. Results: Forty-six parents were interviewed and they were all Christians. Thirty-two (69.6%) were females and fourteen (30.4%) were males. All the respondents were from the south-south region of Nigeria. Four (8.7%) had lost children from complications of SCD. Twenty-four (52.2%), had heard about prenatal diagnosis of sickle cell disease while twelve (50%) of them heard about it from health care professionals. Four (8.7%) had done prenatal diagnosis in previous pregnancies while 32 (69.6%) were willing to do it in their next pregnancy. The most common reasons given for not doing prenatal diagnosis were religious beliefs, personal beliefs and fear of the procedure. Conclusion: There is still a gap in knowledge and utilization of prenatal diagnosis by at risk couples. Appropriate information and regular counselling should be given to at risk parents as a key method of preventing SCD.

Background: During an epidemic, an associated rise in mental health concerns is usually observed. The impact of the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic and lockdown on mental health of adults residing in Nigeria is unknown. The current study attempts to determine the prevalence of psychological distress among adult residents in Nigeria and explore any potential risk factors. Methodology: An online survey developed with Google form was distributed to willing respondents using social media platforms between the time period of 24th of April to 30th of May 2020. Kessler psychological distress scale was used to assess for prevalence of mental health morbidity. Results: Overall, 815 adults responded to the survey, of which 344 (42.2%) were males and 471 (57.8%) females with a Male: Female ratio of 1:1.4. Overall, the top 3 sources of information on facts concerning COVID-19 were television (28.1%), WhatsApp (16.5%) and health care providers (14.3%), while the least source of information was the Nigerian Center for Disease Control (NCDC) (0.8%). 47.3% of the respondents had psychological distress: medium risk (41.4%) and high risk (5.9%). Significant predictors include age, occupation, income, working status, and perception of how likely the respondent believe that he or she can be infected with the disease. Conclusion: A high prevalence of psychological distress was detected among adults living in Nigeria. This calls for an urgent review of the existing national protocol on the management of COVID-19 to include strategies and programs that will promptly detect and address the mental health needs of at-risk populations.

No abstract

No abstract

Aim: This study set out to determine the extent of use, abuse and dependence of commonly abused psychoactive substances and their correlates among undergraduates in the University of Port Harcourt. Methodology: In a cross-sectional survey, using multi-stage sampling, undergraduates in the Social sciences faculty of the University of Port Harcourt, Nigeria were selected. A semi-structured questionnaire adapted from the WHO student drug survey proforma was used as an instrument for data collection. The results were analysed using EPI-info 2000 statistical package. Results: There were 352 respondents with a mean age of 24.4 ± 3.5 years. There were 203 (57.7%) males and 149 (42.3%) females. A majority of respondents (90.6%) use at least one psychoactive substance while 22.2% of them abuse substances. The male sex predominated among the substance abusers with a M: F ratio of 2:1. The prevalence of current use for psychoactive substances ranged from 1.3% to 74.9%. Alcohol (74.9%), was the most commonly used psychoactive substances while heroin (1.3%), was the least used. Abuse rates were higher in cocaine, tobacco and cannabis (66.7%, 63.6% and 55.3% respectively) while dependency rates were higher in heroin, cannabis and cocaine (100.0%, 76.2% and 50.0% respectively). The top three reasons given for starting to use psychoactive substances were experimentation (23.1%), group conformity (23.1%) and curiosity (20.5%) while the reasons given for continuing to use/abuse these substances were to feel good (37.2%), relieve stress (20.0%) and avoid withdrawal symptoms (11.5%). The majority (70.5%) of psychoactive substance users started to use substances before enrolment into the university while more than half of the substance users (56.4%) admitted that being in the university did not increase their use of psychoactive substances. Adverse effects on productivity were noted in 60.3% of substance users. Conclusion: The tendency to abuse substances may begin earlier in childhood and adolescent ages, with the male sex, more vulnerable. More efforts at public enlightenment on the detrimental effects of psychoactive substances should be strategically targeted to include the family unit, primary and secondary school children.

No abstract