Perceived Family Support and Medication Adherence amongst Hypertensive Outpatients in a Tertiary Hospital, Ibadan, Nigeria.

Background: Adherence to medications is a primary determinant of treatment effectiveness and studies have shown that the level of adherence is positively correlated with treatment outcomes in patients with chronic diseases. Besides, an association has been reported to exist between family support and good health outcome. Determining the relationship between medication adherence and family support will assist physicians in offering holistic care to patients with hypertension.

Factors associated with sarcopenia among older patients attending a geriatric clinic in Nigeria.

Context: Aging is characterized by progressive and generalized loss of skeletal muscle mass and strength called sarcopenia which causes poor health and disability. There is paucity of data on this syndrome of public health importance among older Nigerians.

Aim: This study determined the prevalence and factors associated with sarcopenia among persons aged 60 years and above at a geriatric center in Nigeria.

Discordant rapid HIV tests: lessons from a low-resource community.

Objectives: HIV rapid antibody tests are widely used in Africa, but dual testing sometimes produces discordant results. It is not clear if discordant rapid HIV tests should always heighten suspicion by frontline health workers that early HIV infection is present. Some studies have reported that discordant rapid tests have value for identifying early HIV infection in high HIV prevalence populations.

Functional health of patients with knee osteoarthritis in a family medicine clinic in Ibadan.

Background: Patients with knee osteoarthritis experience pain and functional impairment, which impacts upon activities of daily living ultimately leading to a loss of functional independence and low quality- of-life. This study therefore aimed at evaluating the functional health status of patients with knee osteoarthritis in the Family Medicine clinic, University College Hospital, Ibadan, Nigeria.

Methods: A cross-sectional study was conducted on 270 eligible respondents between January and March 2011.

Histopathological alterations, biochemical responses and acetylcholinesterase levels in Clarias gariepinus as biomarkers of exposure to organophosphates pesticides.

Organophosphate pesticides, commonly used in large scale farming, have been found to be major contaminants in aquatic environment. Clarias gariepinus was exposed to acute and sublethal concentrations of phostoxin and DD Force to evaluate single and joint action toxicity of the organophosphates. Effects of phostoxin and DD force on antioxidant enzymes, fish organs and acetylcholinesterase levels in fingerlings and juveniles of C.

ASSESSMENT OF SOCIOECONOMIC STATUS AND CONTROL OF ASTHMA IN ADULTS.

Background: Asthma is a chronic disease which places considerable economic, social and public health burdens on the society. Education, occupation and income are the most widely used indicators of socioeconomic status (SES). Studies have shown increased asthma hospital admissions for those who are materially deprived and increased asthma severity in low social class groups.

Familial and socio-economic correlates of somatisation disorder.

Background: Somatisation disorder can result from an interplay between suboptimal family environment and socio-economic deprivation, which enhances the underlying cognitive tendency for this disorder. There are pertinent familial and socio-economic factors associated with this disorder, but research addressing this is sparse. AIM AND SETTING: The study aims to evaluate family and socio-economic factors that are associated with somatisation disorder amongst patients presenting to the Family Medicine clinic, University College Hospital, Ibadan, Nigeria.

SYMPTOMATOLOGY AND COMORBIDITY OF SOMATIZATION DISORDER AMONGST GENERAL OUTPATIENTS ATTENDING A FAMILY MEDICINE CLINIC IN SOUTH WEST NIGERIA.

Background: Individuals with somatization may be the most difficult to manage because of the diverse and frequent complaints across many organ systems. They often use impressionistic language to describe circumstantial symptoms which though bizarre, may resemble genuine diseases. The disorder is best understood in the context "illness" behaviour, masking underlying mental disorder, manifesting solely as somatic symptoms or with comorbidity.

Frequency and Pattern of Lower Urinary Tract Symptoms in a screened population of Men above 40 Years in Ibadan, Southwestern Nigeria.

Background: The epidemiology of lower urinary tract symptoms in adult men in Nigeria is presently not well known.

Aim: To evaluate a screened population of men for lower urinary tract symptoms and their impact on the participants' quality of life.

Methods: A cohort study was conducted among men aged 40 years and older from 3 selected centres in Ibadan, Southwestern Nigeria.

ASSESSMENT OF THE LIVING CONDITIONS OF RURAL BASED PEOPLE LIVING WITH HIV/AIDS WITH CLINICAL PRESENTATIONS IN NIGERIA.

Objective: To describe the living conditions of rural based people living with HIV/AIDS (PLWHA) and their clinical presentations

Design: descriptive cross-sectional study,

Setting: University College Hospital, Ibadan.

Subjects: PLWHA on anti-retroviral therapy.

Results: One hundred and fifty PLWHA participated.

Quality of life in patients with visual impairment in Ibadan: a clinical study in primary care.

Background: Visual function is important for optimal orientation in functional and social life, and has an effect on physical and emotional well-being. Visual impairment, therefore, leads to restrictions in all aspects of daily living and is related to quality of life. The aim of this study was to provide information on the causes of visual impairment in patients presenting to their family physician, the spectrum of impairment, and its impact on quality of life for these patients.

Knowledge and Perception of Nigerian Men 40 years and above Regarding Prostate Cancer.

Background: Carcinoma of the prostate is now the most commonly diagnosed male cancer worldwide. However, knowledge and perception of Nigerian men about the disease has not been fully investigated.

Aim: To determine the level of awareness about prostate cancer among men 40 years and older in Ibadan, Southwestern Nigeria.

Socio demographic and clinical correlates of knee pain in adult women attending a primary care clinic.

Aims And Objectives: The objectives of the study were to determine the socio demographic and clinical correlates of knee pain in women in a primary care clinic.

Patients And Methods: The study was a cross-sectional survey of 400 women attending the General Outpatients' clinic of the University College Hospital (U.C.

Prevalence and correlates of erectile dysfunction among primary care clinic attendees in Nigeria.

Introduction: Erectile dysfunction (ED) has become a public health issue in Nigeria because of its increasing magnitude, association with chronic medical conditions and negative impact on sexual life.

Materials And Methods: Cross-sectional study of 450 male patients aged 18-70 years who presented with non-ED related complaints. Main outcome measurements were prevalence and severity of ED which was assessed with International Index of Erectile Function (IIEF-5) and single-item sexual function questionnaire.

Obesity: an emerging disease.

Obesity is rapidly becoming an emerging disease in developing countries due to the increasing westernization of societies and change in the lifestyle. The etiology of obesity is said to be multifactorial, with a combination of genetic and environmental factors. Literature has been extensively reviewed to provide a broad overview of obesity.

Visual morbidities among elderly patients presenting at a primary care clinic in Nigeria.

Background: Visual challenges compromise mobility, increase dependency on family members and constitute a major health problem mainly seen by the primary care physicians among the elderly. However, there is little information on the pattern of visual problems of elderly patients attending the primary care clinics in Nigeria.

Objective: To describe the visual problems among elderly subjects in a hospital setting.

Reducing waiting time at a Nigerian HIV treatment clinic: opinions from and the satisfaction of people living with HIV/AIDS.

We assessed the waiting time and perceived satisfaction with care among people living with HIV/AIDS (PLHIV) at an antiretroviral clinic in Nigeria. A structured questionnaire was administered during interviews. Four hundred patients completed the questionnaire.

One size fits all? Race, gender and body mass index among U.S. adults.

This study examined the extent to which factors presumed to be correlated with body mass index (BMI) vary across four race- and gender-specific groups. Data were drawn from the American Changing Lives Survey to estimate separate multivariate regression models for the total study sample that included African-American males, Caucasian males, African-American females and Caucasian females. The dependant variable of interest was BMI.

Demographic factors in HIV infected patients seen at UCH, Ibadan, Nigeria.

There is a rising rate of Human Immunodeficiency Virus (HIV) infection in Nigeria. Good knowledge of the demographic characteristics of the patients with HIV/AIDS may be of great importance in understanding its epidemiology in Nigeria and could facilitate efforts at curtailing the spread of the infection. The study was planned to determine the demographic factors in Nigerian patients with HIV infection.

Maximum-likelihood generalized heritability estimate for blood pressure in Nigerian families.

Elevated blood pressure (BP) is more common in relatives of hypertensives than in relatives of normotensives, indicating familial resemblance of the BP phenotypes. Most published studies have been conducted in westernized societies. To assess the ability to generalize these estimates, we examined familial patterns of BP in a population-based sample of 510 nuclear families, including 1552 individuals (320 fathers, 370 mothers, 475 sons, and 387 daughters) from Ibadan, Nigeria.

Hypertension, serum angiotensinogen, and molecular variants of the angiotensinogen gene among Nigerians.

Background: We evaluated the association among the M235T and T174M variants of the angiotensinogen (AGT) gene, plasma AGT, and hypertension status in a sample of Nigerians.

Methods And Results: Participants were selected from the extremes of the blood pressure distribution obtained from the population survey of 2509 men and women aged 25 to 74 years. Cases (hypertensive subjects) were individuals who had high blood pressure or were taking antihypertensive medication, and control subjects were individuals with low blood pressure who had never taken antihypertensive medication.

Serum distribution of lipoprotein(a) in African Americans and Nigerians: potential evidence for a genotype-environmental effect.

Differences in lipoprotein(a) [Lp(a)] levels across populations have been described and blacks are known to have higher Lp(a) values compared to whites. However, environmental factors which influence Lp(a) levels have been difficult to identify. We took advantage of the large environmental contrast which exists against a common genetic background between U.

Rift Valley fever in Nigeria: infections in humans.

Between 1985 and 1989, a total of 3,121 human sera collected from different population groups in six ecological zones of Nigeria were tested for the presence of antibodies to Rift Valley fever (RVF) virus by the haemagglutination-inhibition test. All reactive sera were further tested by the plaque reduction neutralisation test and specific RVF immunoglobulin M (IgM) assay. A total of 461 sera (14.

Angiotensinogen gene in human hypertension. Lack of an association of the 235T allele among African Americans.

The frequency of the 235T and 174M alleles of the angiotensinogen gene, previously reported to be associated with hypertension in Caucasians and Japanese, was compared between 57 hypertensive African Americans and 130 normotensive African Americans sampled as part of a community survey of hypertension in the Chicago area. The frequency of the 235T allele was unrelated to hypertension status (cases, 83%, control subjects, 82%), as was true for the 174M allele. Compared with Caucasians, the frequency of the 235T allele was twice as high in this African American population, while the frequency of the 174M allele was similar.