Background: Patient satisfaction is an essential parameter in the assessment of quality of care and healthcare facility performance. Objective: To investigate patients’ satisfaction with quality of care in general hospitals in Ebonyi State, South East, Nigeria, using the SERVQUAL. Methods: A cross-sectional descriptive study design was employed on a sample of 400 patients using a 27-item structured open-ended patients’ satisfaction questionnaire with a multi-stage cluster sampling technique. Patients included in the study were those who must have come for an outpatient clinic within the period, be 18 years and above, and those who gave consent to participate. Of 400 questionnaires administered, 396 (99%) were retrieved. SPSS version 20 was used for data analysis. Descriptive statistics, such as frequencies, percentages, mean score ( x), and standard deviation, were employed for interpretation. Results: Out of 396 patients, 156 (39.4%) were male and 240 (60.6%) were females. Most patients were 18–39 years (233 (58.8%)), had secondary education (139 (35.1%)), married (221 (55.8%)), earned <18,000 (170(42.9%)), and were traders (136 (34.3%)). Patients were satisfied with tangibility (2.57 ± 0.99) and reliability (2.84 ± 0.95) and very satisfied with responsiveness (3.06 ± 0.63), assurance (3.07 ± 0.63), and empathy (3.12 ± 0.57). Conclusions: Patients were satisfied with the quality of care. However, satisfaction was highest with empathy and lowest with tangibility. Thus, managers should focus their quality improvement efforts on areas of the neat appearance of health workers, waiting facilities for attendants and patients, and hygienic conditions at the hospital. Also, biannual assessment of patients’ satisfaction should be done and the results generated use judiciously to provide a platform for health sector reform.

This study was an investigation into drug use and sources of drug information among secondary school students in Imo State, Nigeria. A sample of 1400 students, aged 16-17 years was studied. Percentages were used to describe the students' drug use and sources of drug information. Chisquare was used to verify the four hypotheses postulated for the study. Results showed that the main drugs the students who took part in the study used included analgesics, stimulants, anti-malaria, alcohol, worm expellants, nasal decongestants, sleeping pills, laxatives, and anti-biotics and their main sources of drug information included print media, television, radio, and friends and peers. Chi-square tests indicated that the differences in the use of drugs between boys and girls were significant in most cases. It is recommended that drug education be made an integral part of secondary school curriculum.

INTRODUCTION: The purpose of the study was to assess sociodemographic determinants of patients&#39; satisfaction with the quality of care in the General Hospitals in Ebonyi State. Four hypotheses were formulated for the study. Demographic characteristics of age, level of education, marital status, and income level on patients&#39; satisfaction were ascertained. METHODS: A cross-sectional survey research design was used for the study. The population of the study comprised 1, 363, 633 (18 years and above) who attended general out-patient clinics in the General Hospitals using a sample of 400. Data were analyzed using mean ( ), t-test, and analysis of variance (ANOVA) were used to answer the hypothesis at 0.05 level of significance. The SPSS version 20 was employed for the analysis. RESULTS: Findings showed that patients who were 40&ndash;60 years ( = 2.96), had tertiary education ( = 2.97), earned income of N40, 000 &ndash; N59, 000 ( = 2.96) and were married ( = 3.09) were most satisfied. Besides, age, marital status, and income were not significantly associated (p&gt;0.05) with patients&rsquo; satisfaction while the level of education was significant (p&lt;0.05). CONCLUSION: The study revealed that older age, more educated, middle-class income earners, being married were more satisfied with the quality of care received. Efforts should be made by Health workers to ensure that all patients are satisfied irrespective of their demographic characteristics.

The cross-sectional survey research design was used to the study the factors influencing choice of medical care among ill patients suffering from chronic diseases in Ebonyi State. The sample of the study comprised 325 in-patients with selected chronic diseases such as diabetics&rsquo; mellitus, cardiac and renal diseases who were undergoing treatment at the Federal Teaching Hospital (FETHA 1) Abakaliki. The instrument used for data collection was a 26-item questionnaire developed by the researchers. Data collected were analyzed using percentages in order to describe the data and chi-square (&chi;2) statistic in order to establish whether there was any significant association between the independent variables of gender and level education attained and the dependent variables, that is, the factors influencing choice of medical care among chronic diseases patients. The results of the study showed that the association between gender and factors influencing choice of medical care is not significant except for culture, employer and strong hope of cure (p &lt; 0.05). Secondly, the association between level of education attained by patients and factors influencing choice of medical care is significant except for finance, access to hospital, relationship with medical personnel and adequacy of hospital facilities (p &gt; 0.05). The need for chronic diseases clinics and hospitals for prompt treatment of chronic diseases patients is advocated.

Background: Teachers are in advantage position to propagate correct information with regard to HIV/AIDS thereby influencing attitude towards PLWHA. With correct information stigmatization leading to spread of the scourge might be prevented. Aims & Objectives: The study was conducted to determine knowledge and attitude of primary school teachers towards PLWHA. Methods & Materials: The cross-sectional survey was used to study a sample of 400 primary school teachers in Ebonyi State, Nigeria. The instrument used for data collection was researchers’ designed questionnaire. Out of 400 copies of ques- tionnaire administered; 394 representing 98.5% return rate, were used for analysis of data. Results: Results showed respondents had moderate (57.4%) knowledge concerning HIV/AIDS and positive attitude (3.09 ± 0.98) to PLWHA. Female teachers’ dispositions to PLWHA were better than the males based on their attitude scores and the difference was not significant in general knowledge of HIV/AIDS and attitude to PLWHA. Conclusion: Our findings underscore the need for a universal health education programme, focusing on HIV/AIDS educa- tion, in education institutions that train teachers in Nigeria so as to possibly mitigate the discrepancy in knowledge regarding curability of AIDS and any undesirable attitude towards PLWHA that may arise among teachers. Keywords: HIV/AIDS; knowledge; attitude; PLWHA; primary school; teachers.