The challenge to maternal well-being with associated maternal wastages especially in labor has remained unsurmountable across the three tiers of health care delivery in Nigeria. This study aimed to determine and compare the factors that influence utilization of the partograph in primary, secondary, and tertiary health care delivery levels in Calabar, Nigeria. This was a descriptive study, using a self-administered semistructured questionnaire on 290 consenting nonphysician obstetric care workers, purposively recruited. The mean age of the respondents was 40.25 ± 8.68 with a preponderance of females (92.4%). Knowledge of the partograph and previous partograph training had statistically significant relationship with its utilization among respondents from the tertiary and general hospitals. The level of knowledge was higher among workers in the general hospital than those working in the university teaching hospital. Nurses/midwives in the three levels of care were significantly more knowledgeable in partograph use than other nonphysician obstetric care workers. Lack of detailed knowledge of the partograph, its nonavailability and poor staff strength in the study centers were factors militating against its ease of utilization. The authors recommend periodic in-service training and provision of partograph in labor rooms in all maternity wards in our environment.

BackgroundProlonged and obstructed labor is a significant cause of maternal morbidity and mortality in Nigeria, one of the six countries contributing significantly to the global maternal mortality crisis. The use of the partograph would engender a remarkable reduction in the number of these deaths since abnormal markers in the progress of labor would be identified early on.ObjectiveThis study aimed to evaluate the non-physician obstetric caregivers’ (OCGs) knowledge of partograph use, assess the extent of its use, determine the factors that impede its usage, and unravel the relationship between years of experience and partograph use among the respondents (OCGs) in General Hospital, Calabar, Nigeria.MethodologyUsing a self-administered semi-structured questionnaire, a cross-sectional descriptive study was conducted among 130 purposely selected and consenting OCGs working in the General Hospital, Calabar, Nigeria.ResultsThe majority of the respondents (70.8%) had good general knowledge of the partograph but lacked detailed and in-depth knowledge of the component parts of the partograph. Knowledge of partograph (χ2=12.05, P=0.0001) and partograph availability (χ2=56.5, P=0.0001) had a significant relationship with its utilization. Previous training (χ2=9.43, P=0.002) was significantly related to knowledge of partograph. Factors affecting utilization were: little or no knowledge of the partograph (85.4%), nonavailability (70%), shortage of staff (61.5%), and the fact that it is time-consuming to use (30%).ConclusionLack of detailed knowledge of the partograph, nonavailability of the partograph, poor staff numbers, and inadequate training are factors that work against the effective utilization of the partograph in the study facility. Usage of this tool for labor monitoring can be enhanced by periodic training, making partographs available in labor wards, provision of reasonable staff numbers, and mandatory institutional policy.

This work was carried out in collaboration among all authors. Authors TUA and UA conceived and framed the questionnaire, wrote the introduction and appropriate literature search and were fully involved in the discussions. Authors IBO and UEA were involved in data collection while data analysis was handled by authors AOO and MMO were involved in data entry and drafting the manuscript. Author EM did the final editing. All the authors read and approved the manuscript before it was forwarded for publication.

Background: The Consultation is of immense importance in primary care. This study aimed to utilize physician attributes in the patient-care process in determining the proportion of patients who were satisfied or otherwise with the consultation at their doctor-patient interaction.Method: This was a cross-sectional descriptive study undertaken in the Family Medicine Clinic of the University of Calabar Teaching Hospital in the Niger Delta Region of Nigeria. A modified post consultation version of the General Practice Assessment Questionnaire was administered to 430 patients aged 18 to 67 years, who were selected through a process of systematic random sampling over a period of three weeks. Data generated in this study was analyzed using the statistical package for social sciences version 11. Results:Of the 430 subjects studied, 46.74% were males and 53.26% females. The physician attributes shown to positively affect patients' satisfaction with the consultation included: manner of asking the patients about their feeling regarding their illnesses, detailed enquiry about the patients' symptoms, discussing the origin of the patients' illnesses, involving the patients in decisions about the care and explaining the patients' problems and any treatment needed. Others were: making the patients feel at ease during the examination, showing care and concern and addressing their main presenting problems. Conclusion:The study demonstrated clearly that physician attributes greatly influence the outcome of the Consultation in Primary Care.

BackgroundApproximately half of the earth's population in the rural areas of developing countries uses energy obtained from biomass burning, which is harmful to people.ObjectivesThis study is aimed at determining which respiratory symptoms can be associated with biomass burning amongst fish smokers in the Oyorokoto fishing settlement.MethodA community-based, cross-sectional questionnaire, which employed a modified cluster sampling technique, was used.ResultsA total of 300 subjects were recruited for the study, of which 210 (70%) were fish smokers. The mean age was 31.46 ± 13.03 years, with the majority (42.0%) having only primary school education. The prevalence of respiratory symptoms amongst the subjects was 86.7%, the most frequent of which were catarrh (30.48%) and a cough (28.57%). The respiratory symptom occurring least frequently was breathlessness (2.38%). The symptoms most often experienced during fish smoking were those of catarrh (75.5%) and sneezing (73.0%), whereas breathlessness occurred the least, in only 7 (3.3%) of the participants. Sneezing stopped in 64.2% of the subjects after fish smoking had ceased. Most of the fish smoking took place indoors.ConclusionHealth promotion featuring preventive interventions, such as the wearing of face-masks and the use of modern fish smoking methods, which is associated with fewer health risks, is essential to improving the quality of life of fish smokers. The government's provision of certain social services, including better education opportunities for the young, is advocated, and should be especially targeted at improving the lot of the girl child.