Medical consultation is at the centre of clinical practice. Satisfaction of a patient with this process is a major determinant of the clinical outcome. This study sought to determine the proportion of patients who were satisfied with their doctor-patient encounter and the patient-related factors that affected patients' satisfaction with the consultation process. A clinic-based, cross-sectional study using a modified version of the General Practice Assessment Questionnaire (GPAQ), which employed a systematic sampling technique, was used. The questionnaires were administered on 430 patients within the ages of 18 years and 65 years. Among the 430 subjects within the ages of 18 years and 65 years studied, 200 (46.5%) were males and 230 (53.5%) were females. Only 59.3% were satisfied with their patient-doctor encounter. The patient's perception of time spent in the consultation, illness understanding after the visit, ability to cope with the illness after the visit, and ability to maintain health after visit were the only factors that affected patient's satisfaction with the consultation. In our environment, nonsatisfaction with the patient-doctor encounter is high. Only few factors considered to encourage a patients satisfaction at primary care consultation contributed to end-of-consultation satisfaction. This calls for refocusing so as to improve the overall patient care in our cultural context and meet the patient needs in our environment.

Background: The Consultation is of immense importance in primary care. This study aimed to utilize physician attributes in the patient-care process in determining the proportion of patients who were satisfied or otherwise with the consultation at their doctor-patient interaction.Method: This was a cross-sectional descriptive study undertaken in the Family Medicine Clinic of the University of Calabar Teaching Hospital in the Niger Delta Region of Nigeria. A modified post consultation version of the General Practice Assessment Questionnaire was administered to 430 patients aged 18 to 67 years, who were selected through a process of systematic random sampling over a period of three weeks. Data generated in this study was analyzed using the statistical package for social sciences version 11. Results:Of the 430 subjects studied, 46.74% were males and 53.26% females. The physician attributes shown to positively affect patients' satisfaction with the consultation included: manner of asking the patients about their feeling regarding their illnesses, detailed enquiry about the patients' symptoms, discussing the origin of the patients' illnesses, involving the patients in decisions about the care and explaining the patients' problems and any treatment needed. Others were: making the patients feel at ease during the examination, showing care and concern and addressing their main presenting problems. Conclusion:The study demonstrated clearly that physician attributes greatly influence the outcome of the Consultation in Primary Care.

Background: Vulvar and clitoral pain are known complications of female genital muti-

Introduction: Anaemia is one of the haematological complications of HIV, and most of the studies in Nigeria and outside Nigeria have shown prevalence above 50%. Also, anaemia in HIV patients has been shown to be associated with morbidity and mortality. Our study therefore aimed to determine the prevalence and the likely risk factors associated with the development of anaemia among HIV patients attending the special treatment clinic in the University of Calabar Teaching Hospital, Calabar, Nigeria.Methods: This was a cross -sectional study conducted over a period of 6 months from June to November, 2010. A total of 321 patients were recruited but only 300 met the inclusion criteria, and their haemoglobin levels were measured with the use of Drabkin Cyanide method. Data obtained was analyzed with SPSS version 20 with statistical significance at p < 0.05.Results: There were more females than males in the study (70.0% vs 30.0%). Majority of the participants were in the 30 -39 years age category (35.0%), closely followed by those in the 40 -49 years age category (21.0%). The overall prevalence of anaemia was 76%. Female sex, living in an Urban Area and low CD4 cell count are risk factors that were associated with anaemia among HIV patients. However, in a multivariate logistic regression analysis, female sex was the only predictor of anaemia . Conclusion:Anaemia is a common complication seen among HIV patients in view of the prevalence rate of 76% observed in our study. The risk factors associated with anemia were female sex, living in urban area and low CD4 cell count.