BackgroundThere is increasing public and professional awareness of autism spectrum disorders with early recognition, diagnosis and interventions that are known to improve prognosis. Poor knowledge about childhood autism among paediatric and psychiatric nurses who are members of multidisciplinary teams that care for such children may be a major barrier to early interventions that could improve quality of life and prognosis in childhood autism. Factors that influence knowledge about childhood autism among these nurses are not known. This study assessed knowledge about childhood autism among paediatric and psychiatric nurses in Ebonyi state, Nigeria and determined the factors that could be influencing such knowledge.MethodsForty specialist paediatric and forty psychiatric nurses, making a total sample of eighty, were randomly selected from all the health care facilities in Ebonyi state, Nigeria. A socio-demographic questionnaire and knowledge about childhood autism among health workers (KCAHW) questionnaire were administered to them and the study was a point survey.ResultsThe total mean score on the KCAHW questionnaire among the nurses that participated in the study was 12.56 ± 3.23 out of a total of 19 possible. The mean score for the paediatric nurses was 11.78 ± 3.64 while psychiatric nurses had mean score of 13.35 ± 2.58. The mean scores in Domain 1 were 6.17 ± 1.75 for the paediatric nurses and 6.52 ± 1.43 for the psychiatric nurses. The mean scores in Domain 2 were 0.65 ± 0.48 for the paediatric nurses and 0.80 ± 0.41 for the psychiatric nurses. Domain 3 showed mean scores of 1.97 ± 1.25 for the paediatric nurses while psychiatric nurses scored 2.62 ± 1.23. Domain 4 yielded the mean scores of 2.97 ± 1.54 and 3.42 ± 0.98 for the paediatric and psychiatric nurses respectively.There was significant relationship between the total mean score on the KCAHW questionnaire for the two groups and the area of specialisation of the nurses (t = -2.23, df = 78, p = 0.03) and there was also significant relationship between previous involvement in managing children with childhood autism as a specialist paediatric or psychiatric nurse and the total mean score on the KCAHW questionnaire (t = 6.90, df = 78, p = 0.00).ConclusionThe scores reflect deficits in knowledge about childhood autism among the study cohorts. Paediatric and psychiatric nurses as members of multidisciplinary teams that care for children with childhood autism are expected to provide holistic care and adequate counselling to the families of these children. Unfortunately in this environment, they are not fully equipped with enough knowledge about childhood autism. Education on childhood autism is therefore needed and can be provided through continuing medical education and emphasizing childhood autism in their training curriculum. This will enhance early identification and diagnosis of childhood autism with early interventions that are known to improve prognosis.

The level of knowledge of epilepsy in among urban dwellers in SE Nigeria is low and fraught with misconceptions and gaps. There were no significant differences in the attitude scores of respondents with different levels of education. There is a need for a multi-faceted educational interventions directed at improving the awareness and understanding of the condition by all segments of the society.

Though considered rare in the developed countries, pseudocyesis is fairly common in gynecological practices in Africa. Using a case report and an overview of the literature, this paper posits that the elucidation of the psychosocial and cultural contexts within which a given patient lives can provide a basis for the empathic understanding of the reasons for the development of pseudocyesis. The case underscores the contributions of extreme poverty, relationship instability, and recurrent partner abuse in the enactment of pseudocyesis within a culture that treasures children for economic survival and generational continuity. The awareness of this cultural dimension is considered relevant to effective clinical care.

Background Healthcare workers are a burnout-prone occupational group and the prevalence is particularly high among physicians. With the prevailing low physician-patient ratio in Nigeria which has worsened with the recent wave of physician emigration, among other socio-economic constraints; a setting for high physician burnout may have been nurtured. Our survey set out to determine the prevalence of burnout among physicians practicing in Nigeria, ascertain the factors that were associated with the development of burnout and evaluate the respondents’ perceived impact of physician burnout on patient safety. Methods We used the Oldenburg burnout inventory as the measurement tool for burnout in the cross-sectional study conducted between November and December, 2019 among physicians in five tertiary health institutions in Nigeria. A 5- point Likert-type scale was used to evaluate the participants rating of their perceived impact of physician burnout on patient safety. Data entry and analysis were done using IBM Statistical package for social sciences software version 25 and the level of statistical significance was determined by a p value < 0.05. Results The response rate was 61% (535/871), and burnout prevalence was 75.5% (404/535). Majority of the physicians (74.6%) perceive that physician burnout could impact patient safety. Physicians’ professional grade, age and years in practice, but not specialty, gender or marital status were associated with the exhaustion domain, whereas only the physicians’ age was associated with the disengagement domain of burnout. No socio-demographic or work-related characteristics determined overall burnout in our respondents. Conclusion Physician burnout in Nigeria is high and pervasive, and this should alert physicians to be wary of their general and mental health status. Public health policy should address this development which has implications for patient safety, physician safety and healthcare system performance.

There is a persisting poor knowledge, attitude and practice of epilepsy among secondary school students in SE Nigeria. Efforts should be made to include basic facts about disorders with social consequences such as epilepsy in school health education curriculum.

BackgroundThe participation of trainers and trainees in health research is critical to advance medical science. Overcoming barriers and enhancing incentives are essential to sustain a research culture and extend the frontiers of medical education. In this study, we investigated the roles of individual and system factors influencing trainee resident participation in health research in Enugu, south-eastern Nigeria.MethodsThis cross-sectional survey of trainee residents was conducted across three residency training centres in Enugu, Nigeria, between February and March, 2010. The number and speciality distribution of trainee residents were determined from personnel records at each centre. A 19-item questionnaire was used to record demographic characteristics, research training/experience, and attitudes toward and perceived barriers to health research. Data were analysed to yield frequencies, percentages and proportions. Values of p < 0.05 were considered significant.ResultsThe response rate was 93.2%. The respondents (n = 136) comprised 109 males and 27 females. Their mean ± standard deviation age was 35.8 ± 5.6 years (range: 25–53 years). Participation in research was significantly associated with previous research training [odds ratio (OR): 2.90; 95% confidence interval (CI): 1.35–6.25, p = 0.003, β = 22.57], previous research participation (OR: 2.21; 95% CI: 0.94–5.29, p = 0.047, β = 22.53) and research publication (OR: 2.63; 95% CI: 1.00–7.06, p = 0.03, β = 22.57). Attitude towards research was significantly influenced by perceived usefulness of research in patient care (OR: 7.10; 95% CI: 3.33–15.13, p = 0.001), job promotion (OR: 8.97; 95% CI: 4.12–19.53, p = 0.001) and better understanding of disease (OR: 21.37; 95% CI: 8.71–54.44, p = 0.001). Time constraints (OR: 0.06; 95% CI = 0.025–0.14, p = 0.001), funding (OR: 0.028; 95% CI: 0.008–0.10, p = 0.001) and mentorship (OR: 0.086; 95% CI: 0.36–0.21, p = 0.001) were significant barriers to research participation.ConclusionsSystem and individual factors are significant incentives to research participation, while system-derived factors are significant barriers. Pre-residency research, dedicated research time, adequate research funding and commensurate research mentorship rewards are instructive. Prospective longitudinal studies are warranted to confirm these findings.

Background: The stigma of epilepsy is pervasive in developing country contexts and negatively affects the psychological and social wellbeing of its sufferers. The experience of stigma varies across settings and probably relate to disease severity and social characteristics. This study sought to describe the extent and correlates of perceived and enacted stigma among outpatients with epilepsy. Methods: The participants were consecutively presenting epilepsy outpatients in a tertiary facility that attended clinic regularly and had no overt medical or psychiatric co-morbidities. The patients were interviewed with a semi-structured questionnaire. Results: There were 93 participants with a mean age of 30.2 ± 10.3 years and 57.0% were males. The experience of stigma was reported by 46.2% and 67.7% of the participants for perceived and enacted stigma, respectively. Over one-third of the patients had suffered burns or a similar injury in the past. The correlates of perceived stigma were rural residence, lower levels of education, and longer duration of illness. Gender, age and frequency of seizures were not statistically significant determinants. The correlates of enacted stigma were being single, older age, rural residence, and longer duration of epilepsy. A past history of burns and disclosure of epilepsy to individuals outside the family added to the likelihood of experiencing stigma. Conclusion: The burden of epilepsy related social stigma is high in Nigeria. Cultural stereotypes and misconception add to this. There is need for appropriate culture-congruent educational interventions to provide the right information about epilepsy and debunk the misconceptions and myths associated with the condition. This will need to be coupled with astute clinical management of cases and active case finding. Both qualitative and longitudinal quantitative studies would be required to deepen our understanding of the How to cite this paper: Achor, J.U.,

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