Socio-Demographic and Nutritional Status Correlates in Pulmonary Tuberculosis Patients in Calabar, Nigeria

Abstract

Introduction: Tuberculosis (TB) continues to rank high in contributing to the global disability adjusted life years with 10 million new cases yearly worldwide. Having effective control of TB particularly in endemic communities should be predicated on understanding factors that drive its upsurge.
 Objectives: This study assessed the association between socio-demographic factors and nutritional status among adults with pulmonary TB in Calabar, Nigeria.
 Methods: A descriptive analysis of a randomized controlled study that enrolled 81 clinically diagnosed pulmonary TB patients that met the eligibility criteria. Data assessed were, socio-demographic, clinical, dietary, anthropometric, haematological and serum concentration of micronutrients. Results were presented in frequencies, percentages, tables and chart. Chi-square (ꭕ2) test was used to determine existence of associations between variables at 5% level, while, Pearson Correlation test was applied to determine the correlation between variables. P-value was used to determine significance of tests.
 Results: Using body mass index (BMI) as a proxy of nutritional status, results indicate that 33.4% of patients were undernourished with no discernible gender differences (p=0.254). Income level classification was observed to be statistically significantly associated with undernutrition (p=0.021), with those in the low-income category most at risk. Correlation analysis of key variables indicated that low serum ascorbate, zinc and retinol were independently associated with low BMI. These associations were statistically significant (p<0.05).Singleness was identified as a risk factor for undernutrition (p=0.060). Low functional status proxied by Karnofsky score <50% tended to align more with patients in the low income level category.
 Conclusion: Results consistently indicate that patients in the low income category had higher proportion of lower ranges of haemoglobin, protein parameters, serum ascorbate, zinc and retinol concentrations considered deficient. Thus, poverty alleviation strategies should be highly prioritized in TB programming for effective control.

Socio-demographic determinants of mammography uptake among women 40 years and above in Calabar, South-South, Nigeria: a cross-sectional study

“…Low income was statistically significantly associated with low mammography uptake in this study, which is not entirely surprising as income and financial factors have been implicated as huge barriers to utilization of healthcare services [ 6 , 14 , 15 , 17 , 18 , 25 , 29 , 31 ]. In addition, substantial number of Nigerians live below the poverty line with little disposable income to get by, playing out in a cumulative manner to financial incapability and inequities in access to healthcare [ 3 , 6 , 11 , 16 ].…”

“…The overall low uptake of mammography in this study ties closely to the high proportion of respondents that reported lack of knowledge about mammography as a major barrier to uptake. This thus presents justification why awareness about breast cancer should be at the core of its control programmes [ 12 , 16 , 18 , 20 , 21 ].…”

“…Ejemot-Nwadiaro et al . [ 18 ] and Ikeda et al . [ 30 ] also observed that marital status was not independently associated with disease morbidity and mortality.…”

“…This low income association with mammography uptake is in agreement with significant proportion of respondents in this study reporting cost of mammography services and transportation to screening centres as barriers to mammography uptake. Low income and financial factors exert influence on overall health outcomes, in that they may limit not only access, but could prompt negative health-seeking behaviours, place undue pressure on already weak health systems and can cause overall delay in diagnosis and treatment which carry in itself a huge life-long psychosocial and financial burden [ 11 , 17 , 18 , 21 , 25 ].…”

“…Even with the availability of mammography screening tools, women's participation in the screening services in Nigeria is poor [ 6 ]. There is paucity of information on the role of socioeconomic factors in contributing to the low uptake of mammography, yet, socioeconomic factors have been touted to have strong influence on health services utilization and overall health outcomes [ 11 , 17 , 18 ]. This study therefore assessed the association between socio-demographic/socio-economic characteristics and uptake of mammography as a breast screening service among women aged 40 years and above in Calabar, South-South Nigeria.…”