Hypoglycemic and antioxidant activities of the hydroethanolic leaf extract of Byrsocarpus coccineus Schumach. & Thonn. (Connaraceae).

Aim: Diabetes Mellitus is associated with significant morbidity and mortality worldwide. The need for enhanced efficacy and safety, and cheaper and more readily available new drugs has increased the search for new antidiabetic drugs from plants. This study was conducted to investigate the antidiabetic activity of the hydroethanolic leaf extract of B.

Psychosocial characteristics of female infertility in a tertiary health institution in Nigeria.

Objectives: Women with infertility experience higher rates of psychological distress compared with their fertile counterparts. In developing countries, socio-cultural factors may aggravate this distress. We aimed to determine the prevalence of psychological distress as well as its associated socio-cultural characteristics among women attending the infertility clinic of a tertiary hospital in Nigeria.

Burden of care among relatives of patients with schizophrenia in midwestern Nigeria.

Background: Schizophrenia is a devastating mental disorder which places immense burden on family members. There are few studies that have explored the enormity of burden experienced by caregivers in sub-Saharan Africa.

Method: Two hundred caregivers who were relatives of 200 consecutive outpatients with a diagnosis of schizophrenia and undergoing treatment at the Federal Psychiatric Hospital, Uselu, Benin, between August and November 2008, were studied.

Depression and subjective quality of life among outpatients with diabetes mellitus at a teaching hospital in Nigeria.

Objective To determine the relationship between depression and the subjective assessment of quality of life (QoL) in a sample of patients with diabetes mellitus (DM) attending outpatient clinics at a regional university teaching hospital in Nigeria.Methods A cross-section of 200 patients were administered the depression module of the Schedule for the Clinical Assessment in Neuropsychiatry (SCAN) and the World Health Organization Quality of Life assessment - brief version (WHOQoL-Bref) over a two-month study period.Results A major depressive disorder (MDD) was diagnosed in 30% of patients.

Study habits among Nigerian secondary school students with brain fag syndrome.

Brain Fag Syndrome (BFS) is a psychiatric disorder associated with study affecting two to four out of every ten African students. One of the consequences of this illness is early foreclosure of education in affected students. Etiological factors such as nervous predisposition, motivation for achievement, and psychostimulant use have been found associated with it.

Unmodified electroconvulsive therapy: the perspective of patients from a developing country.

Background: The controversy that exists over the relevance of electroconvulsive therapy (ECT) in contemporary psychiatric care often excludes the opinion of patients. Optimizing ECT service delivery must include the perspectives and input of service users. In Nigeria, the opinions of patients have not been explored.

Specific psychiatric morbidity among a sample of asthmatics in south western Nigeria.

Objective: This study was to identify specific psychiatric morbidity among asthma patients and to compare their rates to controls.

Method: Hundred consecutive asthmatics were screened using the General Health Questionnaire (GHQ-30), and the Present State Examination (PSE). The same instruments were also administered to 75 healthy individuals, and 75 orthopaedic patients.

Implications of psychosocial factors as precipitant of asthma attack among a sample of asthmatics.

Objective: To explore the relationship between psychosocial factors and asthma.

Methods: One hundred consecutive asthmatics were screened using the 30-item version of the General Health Questionnaire (GHQ-30), Present state examination (PSE) and a socio-demographic schedule incorporating psychosocial variables. Chi-squared test, student "t" test and discriminant analysis were used in analysis.