Compared with the disability associated with repeated seizures or side-effects of antiepileptic medications, the social stigma associated with epilepsy is often a major handicap to people living with this condition. This study therefore looked at the knowledge, attitude and perception of teachers who see a lot of epileptics, relates on daily bases and have a high influence on students with epilepsy.Self-administered questionnaires were used to obtain information from 460 randomly selected teachers in primary, secondary and tertiary educational institutions in Kwara State-middle belt of Nigeria. The response rate was 75%. Almost all of the teachers had heard about epilepsy, but their awareness does not equate with the acceptance and understanding of epilepsy. About 30.5% believed that it could be contracted through the saliva of an epileptic, 27.7% thought it was synonymous with possession with evil spirit, while 10% misunderstood epilepsy for insanity. Close to one-fifth of the teachers were of the opinion that epileptic students have a below average mental capacity compared with other students and so cannot attainment the highest possible education. Negative attitude and bias towards epilepsy is still deeply ingrained among teachers in Nigeria. Apart from formal education, teachers need to have health education courses on common disease conditions such as epilepsy that are prevalent in school age. This might help to reduce prejudice and increase the acceptance of epileptic individuals into the classroom.

Objectives: This study was prompted by the heightened concerns about the stress inherent in medical education evident from the incessant requests for suspension of studies due to psychological problems. The objectives of the study were to: (i) survey the students for possible psychological problems at admission, and follow them up till exit for possible changes in morbidity, and (ii) ascertain possible risk factors, and coping strategies. Method: This is a preliminary 2-stage cross-sectional report, which is part of a longitudinal survey. It involves first year medical students of the College of Health Sciences of University of Ilorin between March and April, 2011. Questionnaires used included socio demographic, sources of stress, the general health questionnaire-12 (GHQ-12), Maslach's burnout inventory (MBI), and Brief COPE. Data were analysed using SPSS version 15 at 5% significance level. Chi-square, frequency distributions, Pearson's correlation, Odd ratios, and Confidence Intervals were calculated to determine the levels of risk. Results: 79 students returned completed questionnaires. 12 (15.2%) were ghq-12 cases (i.e., scored ≥ 3). Students who had morbidity were 9 times at risk of being stressed consequent upon 'competing with their peers' and 4 times at risk due to 'inadequate learning materials'. Morbidity was significantly more likely to engender use of 'religion', 4 times less likely to engender use of 'positive reframing' with a trend in the use of 'self blame' as coping strategies. Conclusion: Aside from psychosocial/ personal issues in this cohort, academic demand was an additional source of psychological problems thereby causing those who had morbidity to utilize 'religion' and 'positive reframing' to cope. There is therefore an apparent need to incorporate the principle of mental health promotion in medical education.

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Back ground: Stroke produces a wide range of mental and emotional disorders. Neuropsychiatric complications associated with stroke may have negative effects on the social functioning, overall quality of life and the recovery of motor functioning of stroke survivors. Objective: To determine the prevalence and nature of psychiatric morbidity among stroke patients attending neurology outpatient clinic of the University of Ilorin Teaching Hospital (UITH), Ilorin-Nigeria. Methods: All patients with stroke aged 18 years and above at an outpatient neurology clinic in Ilorin, Nigeria were assessed for mental and emotional disorders using the Schedule for Clinical Assessment in Neuropsychiatry (SCAN) over one year (March 2009 to February 2010. Results: Overall prevalence of psychiatric morbidity was 36.0% (30/83) among 83 patients who constituted the study population. Specific diagnoses recorded were depression (19.2%), generalised anxiety disorder (9.6%), harmful alcohol use (2.4%); dementia, somatoform disorder, phobia and delusional disorder each had a prevalence of 1.2%. Clinical and sociodemographic variables were not significantly associated with psychiatric morbidity. Conclusion: Psychiatric disorders are often associated with stroke. Identifying and treating stroke patients with these psychiatric co-morbidities could thus help to improve the overall quality of life of these patients.

BACKGROUND: Caregivers play an important role in the management and care of individuals with chronic medical conditions. This is because; they provide emotional, physical, financial as well as spiritual support to their wards. However, the process of caregiving is usually associated with feelings of burden and psychological distress.METHODS: This study was a descriptive, cross-sectional, clinicbased study done at the endocrinology clinic of a Teaching hospital in Northern Nigeria. It was done utilizing the Zarit Burden Interview, the General Health Questionnaire (12 item version) and a socio-demographic questionnaire designed by the authors. The levels of burden as well as the factors associated with burden and psychological distress in one hundred caregivers of patients with Type 2 Diabetes Mellitus were assessed. Statistical analysis was done using chi square, independent T test and linear regression.RESULTS: Forty- two percent (42%) of caregivers experienced little or no burden, 47% had mild to moderate burden, 8% had moderate to severe burden, while 3% had severe burden. When the ZBI scores were dichotomized into ‘low’ and ‘high’ burden, 89% were found to experience low burden, while 11% experienced high burden. On logistic regression, females were found to be four times more likely to experience high burden, while Thirty-five (35%) percent of caregivers had a GHQ score of > 3, signifying psychological distress and psychological distress was found to be significantly associated with burden.CONCLUSION: Many Nigerian caregivers of patients with Type 2 Diabetes Mellitus experience burden and psychological distress associated with caregiving, especially female caregivers and those taking care of those taking care of patients with complications. It is therefore important for clinicians to recognize burdened caregivers and intervene appropriately in order to improve the quality of care of these patients.