Objectives: To determine the extent, purpose, determinants and the impact of the utilization of Internet medical databases among the respondents. Methodology: A descriptive cross sectional survey of 540 randomly selected physicians at the two tertiary health institutions in Osun State, South west, Nigeria. Result: A total of 444 (82.2%) physicians completed the questionnaires. All the respondents have used the internet medical databases within the last 4 weeks of the study. Majority, (53.8%) used the internet resources at least once in 2 weeks, while 12.2% used the resources every day. The online resources are mainly sought for Routine patient care and for Research purposes. PUBMED (70.3%), HINARI (69.0%), and Free medical journals (60.1%) are the frequently used online databases ⁄ digital archives. The internet resources has positively impacted the Clinical practice (40.0%) and Research output (65.5%) of the physicians. Conclusion: There had been considerable increase in the extent and quality of utilization of online medical databases which has positively impacted on the Clinical practice and Research output of the physicians. Ease of finding the needed information and the availability of evidence based resources are the major determinants of the databases utilized.Keywords: determinants of internet use, information seeking behavior, information source, internet use, online medical database, physicians in Nigeria. Key messagesImplications for the Practice d The medical librarian should create awareness of Internet medical databases and make the password available to doctors. d The medical librarian should have an up to date profile of all the doctors to facilitate the selective dissemination of information (SDI). d There should be effective collaboration with senior medical faculty to find out their current research interests and send regular updates via e-mail. d The medical librarian should organise in-house workshops where information literacy skills are taught using tested models such as the Big six approach. This will reduce time and effort in accessing timely and relevant medical information for patient care. Implication for Policyd Internet access should be provided in all Consulting rooms to encourage Evidence-Based Medical practice and expand the scope and productivity of physicians.

Lassa fever had been reported as a cause of death especially in endemic parts of Nigeria. This study assessed the knowledge, attitude, and practices toward Lassa fever control and prevention among residents of Ile-Ife, southwest Nigeria. Descriptive cross-sectional study was conducted among consenting randomly selected adults using an interviewer administered questionnaire. Data were analyzed using descriptive and inferential statistics. A total of 400 questionnaires with completed data were analyzed (response rate 96%). Majority, 207 (51.8%), were males while 193 (48.2%) were females. Most, 234 (58.5%), had tertiary education while 148 (37%) had secondary education. Fifty-nine percent had heard of Lassa fever with radio as their major source of information. About 76% had inadequate knowledge, 54% had negative attitude while 51% had poor practice toward Lassa fever. Determinants of knowledge of Lassa fever include having higher education (Adjusted Odd Ratio (AOR) = 11.49, 95% CI [3.10, 42.69], p = .0001), being in civil service (AOR = 0.22, 95% CI [0.09, 0.51], p = .01), and earning higher income (AOR = 4.23, 95% CI [2.61, 6.84], p = .0001). In conclusion, the knowledge, attitude, as well as preventive practices to Lassa fever were poor. It is necessary to increase public education and improve hygienic practices.

Breast cancer is the most common female malignancy linked with high levels of morbidity and mortality in developing countries due to delayed diagnosis. This research assessed the knowledge of signs and risk factors of breast cancer and practice of self breast examination (SBE) among female nurses in a rural tertiary Hospital. Eighty-five nurses ages 20 to 60 years were sampled by simple randomization over a period of eight weeks through a self-administered semi-structured questionnaire. The analysis was done using statistical package for social science version 17. Sixteen (15.3%) nurses had adequate knowledge of breast cancer, having a relative with breast cancer (51.8%) and a woman of any age (56.5%) were recognized by majority as risk factors for breast cancer. Majority (68.2%) were not practicing monthly SBE and not confident on how to do it. This study pointed out the gaps in the knowledge and awareness of breast cancer and practice of SBE among the nurses. Opportunity should therefore be sought in various health facilities to educate nurses who are supposed to be closer to the patients.

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Objectives: The study determined the prevalence of malaria infection and its association with socio-demographics, environmental, housing, and co-morbid ailment factors. Methods: The study was a cross-sectional of 330 consented adult febrile patients who were recruited at a tertiary health facility in rural Southwestern Nigeria. The standardized interviewer-administered questionnaire sought information on their socio-demographics, environmental, housing, and co-morbid ailment factors. Venous blood samples were collected and processed for malaria parasite detection, retroviral screening, glycated hemoglobin, and hemoglobinopathy. Data were analyzed using SPSS version 20. The strength of the association between independent and dependent variables was measured using odds ratio and 95% confidence interval with a significant level ( p value <0.05). Results: The prevalence of malaria parasitemia was 63.3% (95% confidence interval: 57.9%–68.5%). Being a farmer ( p = 0.002), lack of formal education ( p = 0.043), low-income earners ( p = 0.031), presence of bushes ( p = 0.048), stagnant water ( p = 0.042), not sleeping under long-lasting insecticide-treated nets ( p < 0.001), and sickle cell disease ( p = 0.041) were significantly associated with malaria infection. Conclusion: The study revealed that there is a high prevalence of malaria infection in rural Southwestern Nigeria. There may be a need to pay greater attention to adult populations in rural areas for malaria intervention and control programs.

Background. diabetes self-care is yet to be incorporated into diabetes management policy, hence the need to establish its practice as an essential catalyst for good glycemic control in the management of diabetes patients. Objectives. This study was aimed at determining the role of diabetes self-care education (DSME) and practice in the management of T2DM patients. Material and methods. A hospital-based study was conducted on 120 adults with T2DM who had been presenting at the clinic for at least two months. The study participants were divided into two groups. Group 1 was the test group and had DSME, while group 2 served as the control. Data was collected using a questionnaire, and clinical parameters of glycemic control were measured both preand post-intervention period. Results. A significant relationship was found between diabetes education, diabetes self-care and glycemic control. This was demonstrated by the significant difference in the proportion of those who achieved good FPG from 28.3% pre-intervention to 51.7% post--intervention (p = 0.001); 2HPP from 30% to 46.7% (p = 0.060) and HbA 1c from 53.3% to 85% (p < 0.001) in the test group; while that of the control was FPG 18.3% to 30% (p = 1.355), 2HPP 11.7% to 26.7% (p = 0.369) and HbA 1c 43.3% to 53.3% (p = 0.804). This showed a significant improvement in the glycemic control of the test group compared to the control group. Conclusions. We conclude that good knowledge and practice of diabetes self-care is relevant to the achievement of good glycemic control.

Background: National surveys indicate that among countries in Africa where malaria is endemic, Nigeria alone accounts for 21% of pregnancies that are unprotected from malaria. This study aimed to ascertain the extent of utilization and effectiveness of malaria prevention methods, found out the existing relationship between maternal parasitaemia and the effectiveness of these methods at (p<0.05) level of signicance.Methods: The study was a cross sectional survey involving 264 consenting pregnant women who were recruited at booking clinic at Federal Teaching Hospital, Ido -Ekiti, Ekiti State, Nigeria. Interviewer administered questionnaire was used to elicit information on their socio-demographic characteristics, mode and extent of utilization of malaria prevention methods and their effectiveness. Venous blood samples were collected and analyzed for malaria parasitaemia using the microscopy. Data was analyzed using SPSS version 20.0 Results:The malaria prevention methods most commonly reported as being effective were the Insecticide Treated Nets (ITNs), Indoor Residual Spray (IRS) or both, which were utilized by 97(36.5%), 79 (30.0%) and 88 (33.4%) participants respectively. Eight (8.3%), 9 (10.8%), and 7 (7.9%) of the participants that used ITNs, IRS or both combination respectively tested positive for malaria parasitaemia. There was a statistically signicant association between maternal parasitaemia and malaria prevention methods using ITNs (p=0.001), IRS (p = 0.001) or both (p = 0.001).Conclusion: The most commonly adopted malaria prevention methods were ITNs, Indoor Residual Spray or both. Despite their protective effectiveness, their utilizations are still poor. Information and communication strategies by the stakeholders are suggested to improve the utilization of these methods as adopted by other countries.