No abstract

BackgroundThe degree of alcohol use influences one's mental health and psychological wellbeing. Psychological well-being of health workers, however, is crucial to the quality of care their patients receive.AimsThe aim of this study was to determine the pattern of alcohol use and factors associated with psychological well-being of health care workers at a University Teaching Hospital.MethodsThis was a cross sectional survey of health workers in the medical and surgical specialties at the State University Teaching Hospital in Nigeria. Socio-demographic questionnaire, the 10-items Alcohol Use Identification Test (AUDIT) and the 12-items General Health Questionnaire (GHQ-12) were used to assess socio-demographic, alcohol use and psychological well-being of the participants. Statistical analyses were done using the Statistical Package for Social Sciences (SPSS) version 16. Appropriate statistical tools were used to determine relationships between various variables.ResultsA total of 256 participants were interviewed. Fifteen (5.9%) of the respondents were either hazardous or harmful drinkers. Psychological distress was reported among 17.2% of the respondents and this was significantly associated with marital status, years of practice, specialty of practice, presence of ongoing chronic illness, current stressors and level of alcohol use.ConclusionA high proportion of the participants in the study were abstainers and a significant number were experiencing psychological distress. Psychological distress was however found to be significantly associated with harmful alcohol use, some socio-demographic variables, and work related factors. Efforts should be geared towards identifying these factors so as to ensure effectiveness and well-being of health workers.

Context:Mental disorders are major contributors to the burden of diseases all over the world. In general practice, which provides essentially primary care, depression is the most common mental disorder seen and often goes unrecognized.Aims:The aims of the study were to determine the prevalence of depression, the variables associated with depression, and the degree of recognition by the Physician in family medicine unit.Setting and Design:A cross-sectional descriptive survey of consecutive patients who presented at the general medical out-patient unit of the State University Teaching Hospital, Ado-Ekiti, Nigeria was done.Materials and Methods:Data were collected using a questionnaire incorporating sociodemographic variables and primary diagnosis made by attending Physician. Depression was assessed with the PHQ-9.Results:Two hundred and seventy two patients were interviewed during the period of the study. Participants were mostly of 45 years or older (51.2%), female (59.9%), married (68.4%), and educated (85.7%). One hundred and thirty (47.8%) of the respondents had significant depressive symptoms with majority (49.2%) being classified as mild. Statistical analysis revealed significant association between depression and age, gender, marital status, and clinical diagnoses (P < 0.05). Over a quarter (28.7%) were presented with infectious diseases, other diagnoses made included cardiovascular disorders (15.8%), endocrine disorders (8.8%), psychiatric disorders other than depression (2.9%) and none had depression as primary diagnosis.Conclusions:The prevalence of depression among patients attending the general medical out-patient clinics is high and highly under-recognised.

Background:Primary care has been identified as a key setting for the reduction of alcohol-related harm, while general practitioners are expected to play a significant role. The study aimed at identifying pattern of, and factors that are associated with alcohol use disorders (AUDs) among patients attending Family Medicine unit of State University Teaching Hospital.Materials and Methods:Sample was selected through a random sampling from a population of patients, aged 18-65 years, attending the general medical out-patients unit of the hospital from January to April 2013. A pretested, semi-structured questionnaire was administered, incorporating sociodemographics and the diagnoses made by the attending Physician. The participants also completed the alcohol use disorders identification test (AUDIT) questionnaire and the patient health questionnaire-9.Results:The prevalence of AUDs among the population of general out-patients was 9.7%. The AUDIT scores of the participants range from 0 to 29 with a mean of 1.3 (standard deviation = 4.08). AUDs were significantly associated with gender, level of education, occupational class, and the presence of significant depressive symptoms (P < 0.05). There was no statistically significant association found for age, employment status, marital status, and religion.Conclusion:The prevalence of AUDs among population studied was lower compared with a similar study in similar setting, but however, significant. AUDs were predicted by gender, lower education level, occupational group, and the presence of significant depressive symptoms mostly in the mild to moderate form. Identifying the group at risk in clinical setting may go a long way in reducing the adverse effect of AUDs in our society.

Background:Doctors have been identified as one of the key agents in the prevention of alcohol-related harm, however, their level of use and attitudes toward alcohol will affect such role.Aim:This study is aimed at describing the pattern of alcohol use and the predictors of hazardous drinking among hospital doctors.Setting:Study was conducted at the Ekiti State University Teaching Hospital, Ado-Ekiti, Nigeria.Design:A cross-sectional survey involving all the doctors in the teaching hospital.Materials and Methods:All the consenting clinicians completed a sociodemographic questionnaire and alcohol use was measured using the 10-item alcohol use disorder identification test (AUDIT) and psychological well-being was measured by the 12-item General Health Questionnaire (GHQ-12).Statistical Analysis Used:Statistical analyses were done using the Statistical Package for Social Sciences version 16. Chi-square tests with Yates correction were used to describe the relationship between respondent's characteristics and AUDIT scores as appropriate.Results:There were a total of 122 participants. Eighty-five (69.7%) of them were abstainers, 28 (23%) were moderate drinkers, and 9 (7.3%) hazardous drinkers. With the exception of age, there was no significant relationship between sociodemographic status, years of practice, specialty of practice, and hazardous alcohol use. Experiencing stress or GHQ score above average is significantly associated with hazardous drinking.Conclusion:Hazardous drinking among hospital doctors appears to be essentially a problem of the male gender, especially among those older than 40 years. Stress and other form of psychological distress seem to play a significant role in predicting hazardous drinking among doctors.