No abstract

MethodologyThis was a secondary analysis of data from a descriptive crosssectional survey of 91 (55 males, 36 females) volunteer caregivers of stroke survivors recruited from purposively sampled tertiary health facilities in South-Eastern Nigeria reported in previous works [6,13]. The original study was a survey of level of burden and quality of life and related factors in a Nigerian population of informal stroke caregivers. AbstractCaring for a stroke survivor could become burdensome and may negatively affect the caregiver's health and quality of life (QOL). Studies from African populations depicting the relationship between burden of caregiving and the health and QOL of the caregivers are rather rare. The level of burden of caring for stroke survivors among informal stroke caregivers in Nigeria and its relationships to their QOL and its components was investigated in this study.This was a secondary analysis of data from a descriptive cross-sectional survey of 91 (55 males, 36 females) volunteer caregivers of stroke survivors recruited from purposively sampled tertiary health facilities in South-Eastern Nigeria. The Carers' Strain Index and the Short Form 12-item Health Survey were used for estimating carers' burden, and QOL and its components respectively. Data was analysed with frequency and percentages, mean and standard deviation and Mann-Whitney U test (p ≤ 0.05).Majority (83.5%) of the caregivers reported a high level of burden. QOL was most severely affected in the role limitation due to emotional problems and general health domains, though overall QOL score was modest. QOL scores were significantly lower for caregivers with high level of burden overall (p=0.01) and in the Mental (p=0.04) and Physical (p=0.01) Component Summaries.High level of burden among stroke caregivers portends serious consequences for their health and quality of life. While the physical consequences may be more easily observed in the presence of higher burden, emotional problems may more severely undermine role functioning. Attempts by clinicians to ameliorate carers' burden may be necessary for sustaining good health and QOL among the group. Attention should be particularly placed on their psychological/ emotional needs. These may be achieved with inclusion of appropriate handling techniques in caregivers education plan and providing adequate emotional support and counselling.

Background: Automobile technicians in resource-limited countries depend more on manual than mechanized approach in their work, and as such, may be at high risk for musculoskeletal disorders such as low back pain (LBP). This study was aimed to investigate the prevalence, risk factors and health care service utilization for LBP among Nigerian automobile technicians.Methods: A total of 240 members of the National Association of Automobile Technicians responded in this survey. A previously validated instrument on prevalence, risk factors and health-care-service utilization for LBP was adapted in this study. Data was analysed using descriptive and interferential statistics. Alpha level was set at p < 0.05.Results: Twelve-month and point prevalence of LBP were 79.2% and 75%. On-going LBP was associated with work-related poor posture (46.7%), trauma (13.9%) and lifting of loads (11.7%).LBP mostly led to absenteeism from work (46.8%) and consultation with health practitioners (73.7%). 40% of respondents agreed to have incurred about N1000-N5000 as treatment cost, and 38.7% of the respondents lost about N5000-N10000 as estimated cost in terms of lost hours. Type of automobile activity engaged in (p = 0.483), frequent bending (p = 0.217), lifting objects weighing up to 5 kg (p = 0.071) or up to 25 kg (p = 0.719) and sustained sitting (p = 0.349) or standing (p = 0.996) were not significantly associated with prevalence of LBP.In the bivariate analysis, age (χ 2 = 3.298, P = 0.192), marital status (χ 2 = 0.098, P = 0.754), type of automobile repairs engaged in (χ 2 = 0.493, P = 0.483), lifting objects up to 5 kg (χ 2 = 3.269, p = 0.071), lifting objects up to 25 kg (χ 2 = 0.130, p = 0.719), sustained sitting (χ 2 = 0.840, p = 0.349), and sustained standing (χ 2 = 0.002, p = 0.996) were not significantly associated with prevalence of LBP. Level of education (χ 2 = 6.121, p = 0.047) was, however, associated with LBP prevalence, although this association was not sustained following logistic regression. Conclusion:There is a high prevalence of LBP among Nigerian automobile technicians, and it results in work absenteeism, economic burden and increased need to seek health care.