Burnout and Work-Family Conflict as Predictors of Psychological Well-Being among Paramilitary Officers in Ibadan, Oyo State

This study investigated burnout and work-family conflict as predictors of psychological well-being among paramilitary officers in Ibadan, Oyo State, Nigeria. The study adopted cross-sectional survey design while using purposive sampling technique to select Nigeria Security and Civil Defence Corps (NSCDC) officers. Data were conveniently collected from 238 officers using three validated scales: Burnout Scale, Work-to Family Conflict Scale, and Psychological Well-Being Scale. Data were analysed using t-test of independent samples and multiple regression analysis. Three hypotheses were tested and accepted at a p < 0.05 level of significance. The result indicated that burnout significantly influenced psychological well-being among study participants [t (234) = 6.33, p < 0.05] such that participants who reported low burnout reported higher psychological well-being (M =128.30, SD = 13.57) than officers who reported high burnout (M = 115.67, SD= 16.91). Also, the result revealed that work-family conflict significantly influenced psychological well-being [t (234) = 5.63, p < 0.05] such that officers who reported low work-family conflict indicated higher psychological well-being (M = 129.01, SD = 15.90) compared to officers who reported high work-family conflict (M = 117.44, SD = 15.16). The result further showed that burnout and work-family conflict jointly predicted psychological well-being among officers [R2 = .57, F (2, 231) = 154.13, p < 0.05]. The study concluded that burnout and work-family conflict are good predictors of psychological well-being among the NSCDC officers in Ibadan. Therefore, the study recommended that human resource managers should put in place skills training to cope with burnout and work-family conflict among officers. &nbsp

Plasmodium falciparium parasitemia in pregnancy in relation to maternal anaemia

This study was aimed at examining existing relationship between peripheral parasitaemia of Plasmodium falciparum and anemia among pregnant women in a secondary hospital and a tertiary hospital in Osogbo, South-Western, Nigeria. Two hundred and twenty five (225) patients were enrolled into this study, one hundred and fifty (150) from Asubiaro General Hospital, Osogbo and seventy five (75) from LAUTECH Teaching Hospital, Osogbo. A total of 30 (13.3%) women carrying the first pregnancy (primigravida), and 195 (86.6%) multiparous women (2-5) were enrolled. Mean age of recruited women was 31.511± SD 1.03, mean gestational age was 2.4267 ± SD 0.72 and mean packed cell volume was also 26.889 ± SD 0.43. Overall prevalence of malaria parasitemia was 63.6% while mean malaria parasite density was 461.33 among women infected with malaria parasite. Prevalence of malaria in pregnancy was highest amongst women with first pregnancy and in the age bracket 26 – 30 years (26.7%) and least among women greater than 40 years. Parasitemia decreased as parity increased, as women acquire immunity to malaria progressively with multiple pregnancies. Mild to moderate anaemia was also found to be prevalent among primigravida (11.6%) and this was associated with malaria parasitemia among these women .No correlated relationship was established between malaria parasitemia and age, gravidity, trimester of pregnancy, and Packed cell volume. Malaria chemoprophylaxis and other methods of malaria control should be sustained and advocacy for inclusion of malaria treatment in safe motherhood should be continued because of its beneficial potentials. Key words: Malaria, Pregnancy, anaemia

Intestinal Helminthiasis among School Children in Ilie, Osun State, Southwest, Nigeria

A cross sectional study of intestinal helminthiasis among school pupils was undertaken in three primary schools in Ilie in Olorunda Local Government Area of Osun state in order to determine the prevalence and intensity of helminthic infections. The relationship between intestinal helminths and anthropometric indices and the factors that could favour the infection were also studied. Faecal samples from three hundred and four (304) randomly selected out of the four hundred and seven (407) school children in the study area were collected and analysed with the semi-quantitative Kato Katz technique and concentrated method. The intensity of infection was classified into light, moderate or high according to World Health Organisation (WHO) thresholds. The overall prevalence rate was 52.0% while five species of intestinal helminths were identified. Ascaris lumbricoides (36.2%) was the most common, followed by Hookworm (10.5%), Schistosoma mansoni (4%), Strongyloides stercoralis (0.7%) and Hymenolepis nana (0.7%). Multiple helminthic infection were recorded with Ascaris –Hookworm (6.58%) having the highest prevalence among the children. Female (56.6%) were more infected than male (46.4%) and the difference was statistically significant (P=0.0019). Seventeen percent (17%) of the children were below the third percentile for weight (wasted) while fourteen percent (14%) were below the third percentile for height (stunted). There was a relationship between intensity of infection and wasting since there were fewer underweight pupils (13%) with normal stool than those moderately infected (35%) (

Knowledge and utilization of intermittent preventive treatment for malaria among pregnant women attending antenatal clinics in primary health care centers in rural southwest, Nigeria: a cross-sectional study

<p>Abstract</p> <p>Background</p> <p>Intermittent preventive treatment for prevention of malaria in pregnancy (IPTp) is a key component of malaria control strategy in Nigeria and sulfadoxine-pyrimethamine (SP) is the drug of choice. Despite the evidence of the effectiveness of IPTp strategy using SP in reducing the adverse effects of malaria during pregnancy the uptake and coverage in Nigeria is low. This study set out to assess the use of IPTp among pregnant women attending primary health centres in the rural area and determine factors that influence the uptake.</p> <p>Methods</p> <p>A cross-sectional study was carried out between July and August 2007 among 209 pregnant women selected by systematic random sampling from antenatal care attendees at primary health care in a rural Local Government Area of Ekiti State, Nigeria. Information on knowledge of IPT, delivery, adherence and acceptability was obtained using an interviewer administered questionnaire. Descriptive statistics such as means, range, proportions were used. Chi-square test was used to examine association between categorical variables. All analyses were performed at 5% level of significance.</p> <p>Results</p> <p>One hundred and nine of 209 (52.2%) respondents have heard about IPTp but only 26 (23.9%) were able to define it. Fifty seven (27.3%) reported to have received at least one dose of IPTp during the index pregnancy and all were among those who have heard of IPTp (52.3%). Twenty one of the 57 (36.8%) took the SP in the clinic. Only three of the twenty-one (14.3%) were supervised by a health worker. Twenty two of the 36 women (61.1%) who did not take their drugs in the clinic would have liked to do so if allowed to bring their own drinking cups. Almost half (43.9%) of those who had used IPTp during the index pregnancy expressed concern about possible adverse effect of SP on their pregnancies. Periodic shortages of SP in the clinics were also reported.</p> <p>Conclusion</p> <p>In this study, IPTp use among pregnant women was very low and there was poor adherence to the Directly Observed Therapy (DOT) scheme. Concerted effort should be made to increase awareness of IPTp among the public especially women of child bearing age. Health workers should also be trained and monitored to ensure adherence.</p

Pseudomonas aeruginosa in Post-operative Wound Infections in Ibadan, Southwest Nigeria

The occurrence of post-operative wound infections was studied over a period of five months in the University College Hospital, Ibadan between February to July, 2003. Two hundred Surgical wounds were collected and routinely processed by Gram staining and culture in the Microbiology Laboratory. Of the 200 samples examined 189 (94.5%) were positive for bacterial pathogens while 11(5.5%) were bacteriologically sterile. Among the bacterial pathogens isolated, the percentage of Pseudomonas aeruginosa was 22.4%. More males (30.3%) than females (22%) were infected {

Multidrug resistance of Acinetobacter baumannii

Acinetobacter baumannii is a ubiquitous pathogen that has emerged as a major cause of healthcare-associated infections at Ladoke Akintola University Teaching Hospital. Isolates were assayed according to standard protocol. The isolates were subjected to molecular techniques to detect blaOXA, blaTEM, blaCTX-M, and blaSHV genes in strains of the A. baumannii isolates. The prevalence of A. baumannii was 8.5% and was most prevalent among patients in the age group 51–60 (36%); the male patients (63.6%) were more infected than their female counterparts. Patients (72.7%) in the intensive care unit (ICU) were most infected with this organism. The isolates showed 100% resistance to both amikacin and ciprofloxacin and 90.9% to both ceftriaxone and ceftazidime, while resistance to the other antibiotics used in this study were: piperacillin (81.8%), imipenem (72.7%), gentamycin (72.2%), and meropenem (63.6%). None of the isolates was, however, resistant to colistin. PCR results showed that blaOXA, blaTEM, and blaCTX-M genes were positive in some isolates, while blaSHV was not detected in any of the isolates. This study has revealed that the strains of A. baumannii isolated are multiple drug resistant. Regular monitoring, judicious prescription, and early detection of resistance to these antibiotics are, therefore, necessary to check further dissemination of the organism

Prevalence of Plasmodial Parasiteamia among Blood Donors in Lagos, Nigeria

The risk of transfusion of malaria parasite was studied in 500 blood donors in four major hospitals in Lagos, Nigeria. Blood donors within the age range of 18 – 50 were screened for malaria parasite between January and August 2004. Of these 82 (16.4%) were positive for malaria parasite with P. falciparum accounting for 73 (89%) and P. malariae 9 (11%). More males 54 (65.8%) were infected than the female 28 (34%) (P>0.05). The relationship between heamoglobin genotype and infection rate was also determined. Donors with heamoglobin genotype AA were the most infected 113 (47.48%), followed by AC heterologous donors accounting for 40 (27.97%), while the least infected donors were those with hemoglobin genotype AS. This study also gives a fair representative degree of sub clinical infection rate, since donors are usually judged to be healthy. It is therefore recommended that as a duty and routine it is imperative to screen blood for infectious agents, such as malaria parasite before transfusion to avoid malaria infection of otherwise aneamic patients. Keywords: Plasmodium, Parasitaemia, blood donors, Lagos. Nigerian Journal of Health and Biomedical Sciences Vol. 6 (2) 2007: pp. 61-6