This study assessed the epidemiology of depressive symptoms in Nigerian medical students. A cross-sectional study of 262 medical students from University of Nigeria, Enugu campus, one of the foremost medical schools in Nigeria was studied. Data were collected using structured self-administered questionnaires and the Zung self-rating depression scale developed by Zung as an instrument, which measures the subjective experience of depression. The age range of students was 16-30 years. The prevalence of depression among the students was 23.3%. Students aged 16-20, females, and those who had a professional examination during the period of the study had higher levels of depression, although these findings were not significant. However, students who smoked regularly had significantly higher levels of depression than those who did not smoke. Medical educators in Nigeria need to be aware of the vulnerability of medical students to depression.

Hypertension remains the most rapidly rising cardiovascular disease in Africa. This study was designed to evaluate the perception, knowledge and practices of Nigerian hypertensive patients regarding hypertension and lifestyle modification measures. Consecutive hypertensive patients attending the cardiac clinics of the University of Nigeria Teaching Hospital, Enugu, Nigeria, were recruited. A pre-tested structured interviewer-administered questionnaire was used to collect data. Questions were categorised to elicit patients' demographic characteristics, knowledge, perception and practice of various lifestyle-modification measures. chi(2) tests were performed. More than half (54.2%) of the 260 respondents had no formal, or just primary, education. About 25% were no longer taking their antihypertensive medication. Fifty per cent of the patients thought that hypertension was caused by stress. Most knew about the lifestyle measures through health personnel. More than 50% adopted the lifestyle-modification measures once they became aware of their effects. This study has shown a poor level of perception of hypertension and awareness of the lifestyle-modification measures through the mass media, but a high level of willingness to adopt the lifestyle measures. Concerted strategies are required to change the perception of hypertension and increase the awareness of the lifestyle-modification measures in this part of the world.

Cervical cancer screening enhances early detection which reduces morbidity and mortality. The objective of this study is to assess awareness and practice of cervical cancer screening amongst female students in a Nigerian university. A cross-sectional survey of 394 students was done. About 23.1% identified the Pap smear as a screening test. Only 5.2% of respondents had ever been screened and 52.8% reported willingness to be screened. The major reason for unwillingness to get a Pap smear was absence of symptoms (31.7%). There is a critical need to improve cervical cancer screening participation amongst female undergraduate students in Nigeria.

IntroductionHIV and AIDS care requires frequent visits to the hospital. Patient satisfaction with care services during hospital visits is important in considering quality and outcome of care. Increasing number of patients needing treatment led to the decentralization of care to lower level hospitals without documented patient perception on the quality of services. The study determined and compared patient satisfaction with HIV and AIDS care services in public and private hospitals and identified the factors that influence it.MethodThis was a cross-sectional comparative study of patients receiving antiretroviral treatment in public and private hospitals in Anambra State. The sampling frame for the hospitals consisted of all registered public and private hospitals that have rendered antiretroviral services for at least one year. There were three public urban, nine public rural, eleven private urban and ten private rural hospitals that met the criteria. One hospital was selected by simple random sampling (balloting) from each group. Out of a total of 6334 eligible patients (had received ART for at least 12 months), 1270 were recruited by simple random sampling from the hospitals proportionate to size of patient in each hospital. Adapted, validated and pretested Patient Satisfaction Questionnaire (PSQ18) was interviewer-administered on consenting patients as an exit interview. A Chi-square test and logistic regression analysis were conducted at 5% level of significance.ResultThere were 635 participants each in public and private hospitals. Of the 408 patients who had primary education or less, 265(65.0%) accessed care in public hospitals compared to 143(35.0%) who accessed care in private hospital (p<0.001). Similarly, of the 851 patients who were currently married, 371 (43.6%) accessed their care in public compared to 480 (56.4%) who accessed care in private (p<0.001). The proportion of participants who were satisfied were more in public hospitals (71.5%) compared to private hospitals (41.4%). The difference in proportion was statistically significant (χ2 = 116.85, p <0.001). Good retention in care [AOR: 2.3, 95%CI: 1.5–3.5] was the only predictor of satisfaction in public hospitals while primary education [adjusted odds ratio (AOR); 2.3, 95%CI: 1.5–3.4], residing in rural area [AOR: 2.0, 95%CI: 1.4–2.9], and once-daily dosing [AOR: 3.2, 95%CI: 2.1–4.8] were independent predictors of patient' satisfaction among private hospital respondents.ConclusionSatisfaction was higher among patients attending public hospitals. Patient’s satisfaction was strongly associated with retention in care among patients in public hospitals. However, in private hospitals, it was influenced by the patient’s level of education, place of residence, and antiretroviral medication dosing frequency.