International Journal of Medical and Health Sciences Research

Evaluation of the choices and availability of family planning services in Lagos State: A secondary analysis of census-based health facility assessment data from Noi Polls

2023-02-27T09:45:47-06:00

Maternal mortality rates remain unacceptably high, especially in developing countries like Nigeria. Nigeria is responsible for about 20% of all global maternal deaths, with a Nigerian woman having a 1 in 18-lifetime risk of dying because of pregnancy or childbirth. Evidence-based strategies have been proposed, including family planning (FP), to reduce the incidence of maternal mortality, which is the only strategy that reduces the proportion of high-risk pregnancies and births and reduces exposure to the risk of maternal mortality. Despite these benefits, there is still a high unmet need for family planning services. The present study assesses the choices and availability of FP services in Lagos state health facilities, examines the challenges, barriers, and cultural restraints to modern contraception, and proffers solutions that will help increase FP uptake in the state. The study also presented supply-and-demand interventions that are most effective at increasing voluntary contraceptive uptake in Lagos state.

Prevalence of refractive error in paediatric age group in a tertiary eye center in Onitsha, south east, Nigeria

2023-05-10T09:22:17-05:00

Paediatric ophthalmology is an emerging subspecialty in Nigeria and there is a paucity of data on refractive errors in the country. This study set out to determine the prevalence, type, and factors affecting refractive error among paediatric patients at Guinness Eye Centre, Nnamdi Azikiwe University Teaching Hospital (NAUTH), Onitsha. A retrospective cross-sectional study of 685 patients seen over a 3-year period using the simple random sampling technique. Collected data was analysed using the Statistical Package for the Social Sciences (SPSS) version 20. Of the 685 patients, 242 cases of refractive error were identified giving a prevalence rate of 35.3% with 66.5% of them being female and 33.5% males. The mean age range was 12.0 +/- 3.7 years. Prevalence increased with age from 1.7% among those 0-4 years to 46.3% among those 10-14 years. Myopia was the commonest type of refractive error (62%) while hyperopia was 22.7%. However, there was no case of astigmatism. Poor distant vision was the commonest presenting complaint (34.4%). There is a high risk for refractive error among children with eye complaints and females have a significantly higher proportion. It may be necessary to assess if the male children tend to shy away from complaining of any visual disturbance. Children with refractive errors may not be identified soon enough, and this could account for poor learning in childhood. So, children should be routinely screened for refractive error.

The influence and usage of technologies by practicing nurses in Nigeria

2023-12-29T07:09:59-06:00

Recent medical scientific advancement in e-health is influencing the art and science of nursing globally. While the use of modern technology is visible and appreciated in developed countries, such assertion is still in infancy in Nigeria. There is a dearth of research on the impact of the usage and perceived benefits of existing technologies in the practice of nursing in Nigeria. This is the premise for this study. The main objective of this study is to assess the usage and perceived benefits of existing technologies in the practice of nursing with the view to improving quality of care through adequate usage, and maintenance, more importantly informing other stakeholders on the importance of ensuring adequate supply of existing and emerging technologies. The research design is descriptive and cross-sectional. Respondents were drawn from five (5) selected hospitals each from the Northern and Southern parts of Nigeria through stratified random sampling techniques. A total of 300 nurses were selected from both regions. The quantitative data were analyzed, using Analysis of Variance (ANOVA) with a 95% confidence of 0.05 level of significance. The result of this study emphasized the importance of improving nursing care through efficient and effective usage of technologies, as well as the need for adequate availability and functionality of existing tools used by practicing nurses in Nigeria.