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Background: Tobacco use poses an enormous threat to public health worldwide. Its use is associated with an epidemic of cancer, heart disease, stroke, chronic lung disease and other non-communicable diseases especially with increases in age leading to increase morbidity and mortality. The aim of the study was to determine prevalence and associated factors with tobacco use among elderly members of a community in Jos South LGA, Plateau State, Nigeria. Methods: Data was collected from 17th to 31st August, 2018. The study employed a cross sectional design. Out of 422 elderly members (≥60 years) of the community identified, only 400 were interviewed with a composite questionnaire that includes the following: socio-demography, Alcohol Smoking and Substance Involvement Screening Test (ASSIST), Mini International Neuropsychiatric Interview (MINI) as well as the 12-item General Health Questionnaire (GHQ-12). Results: Results show the lifetime prevalence of tobacco use to be 17.5% and current prevalence to be 15.8%. Tobacco use disorders were not significantly associated with gender (X2 = 0.10, p2 = 0.03, p = 0.96), respiratory (X2 = 0.21, p = 0.65), digestive (X2 = 3.86, p = 0.05), difficulty ambulating (X2 = 0.34, 0.56), probable psychiatric co-morbidity (X2 = 0.12, p = 0.72) and chronic pain conditions (X2 = 0.74, p = 0.39), and had more hospital visits (X2 = 1.18, p = 0.40), and admissions (X2 = 0.03, p = 0.96) but the relationships did not attain statistical significance. Conclusion: We conclude that tobacco use is highly prevalent among older adults living in the community. There is need to step up efforts on programs of intervention especially smoking cessation programs and as a result reduce the burden of tobacco related diseases and disorders.

The prolonged Boko Haram crises in North-East Nigeria caused serious displacement and left the survivors with multiple psychological consequences such as Posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD). A high prevalence rate of PTSD among Internally Displaced Persons (IDPs) has been reported across literatures. This study aimed to determine the factors that are associated with PTSD and its relationship with functional disability among IDPs in Yobe State, Nigeria. This was a cross sectional study of 450 respondents, recruited using a systematic sampling method. We used Harvard Trauma Questionnaire to screen for symptoms of PTSD and definite diagnosis made with WHO Composite International Diagnostic Interview (CIDI), PTSD Module. Hopkins Symptom Checklist was used for symptoms of depression and definite diagnosis made with CIDI Depression Module. The WHO Disability Assessment Schedule 2.0 was used to measure functional disability. There were 192 (45.5%) males and 230(54.5%) female respondents. The mean age of respondents was 39.4±18.50 years with range of 18-80 years. Significant PTSD symptoms were found among 159(37.7%) of the IDPs while Clinical interview gave a definite prevalence of 18.5%. Two hundred and forty-four (57.8%) of the respondents had disability scores in the mild range, 17.5% in the moderate range while 20.7% were in the severe range. Majority of those with disability scores in the severe range had PTSD. Factors significantly associated with PTSD were age, marital status, duration of displacement, type of abode, general living condition, self-reported general health, and disability score. A High prevalence rate of PTSD was found among IDPs and the severity of disability correlated well with having diagnosis of PTSD in the study.

Depression has been consistently associated with cardiovascular disease (CVD), it is also known to play an essential role in the initiation and exacerbation of CVD. This study was aimed to determine the prevalence and correlates of depression among patients attending the cardiology clinic of the Benue State University Teaching Hospital (BSUTH), Makurdi. The study was conducted among one hundred and six (106) consenting patients attending the cardiology unit of BSUTH from June to August 2017. The result shows that, 52(49.1%) were males while the remaining 54(50.9%) were females. The mean age of the respondents was 53.48±14.77years, twenty-eighty respondents representing 26.4% were married at the time of the study, 15(14.2%) were single while the remaining 63(59.4%) were previously married. Thirty-seven (34.9%) of the study subjects had no formal education and eighty-two (77.4%) of the presentation at the clinic were having a diagnosis of hypertension, 8(7.5%) were being treated for Rheumatic Heart Disease (RHD), 9(8.5%) were diagnosed with cardiomyopathies, 3(2.8%) were diagnosed heart failure and 4 (3.8%) had other cardiovascular diseases. The prevalence of depression was found to be 45.3% in this study, there was a statistically significant relationship between the diagnoses of depression and gender status (p=0.001), marital status (p=0.01), partner relationship (p=0.001), substance abuse (p=0.001). No statistically significant relationship was found between depression and occupational status (p=0.167), level of educational attainment (p=0.401), respondents’ weight (p=0.06), and the nature of cardiovascular diagnoses (p=0.951). We recommended early detection and treatment of depression among patients with cardiovascular diseases.

The patterns of alcohol consumption among females is of enormous public health concerns, as harmful consumption poses danger to their health, welfare, children and to the civil society. The study objectives were to determine the current prevalence of alcohol use, the related socio-demographic factors and the patterns of alcohol consumption. It was a descriptive cross-sectional study in Jos North Local Government Area, carried out from March to July, 2017 after ethical clearance was obtained. A multistage sampling technique was employed to select the participants who were age 18 years and above. A total of 272 females with an age range of 18 to 60 years responded. The mean age was 28.8±8.6 years. Majority 112(41.2%) were in the age group of 25-34 years. Most of them were never married 168 (61.8%), protestants 151(55.4%) and had secondary education 97(35.7%). About half of them were employed (148(54.4%) with 167(61.4%) of them earned an average monthly income of 20,000 naira or less. One hundred and fifty nine (58.5%) use alcohol in the family. The estimated prevalence of life time use, current use and abstention were 79.4%, 41.2% and 20.6% respectively. Of the current users 35(31.1%) were low risk while hazardous, harmful and dependent users were 30(26.8%), 21(18.8%) and 26(23.2%) respectively. The sociodemographic variables associated with current alcohol use were history of family use (χ2 = 3.088, df = 1, p = 0.01) and educational status (χ2 = 8.797, df = 3, p = 0.03). These findings call for immediate advocacy and sensitization of awareness concerning prevention, treatment and rehabilitation to stem the tide of deleterious patterns of alcohol consumption among females in the community.

Long duration of hospitalisation has been associated with negative consequences of isolating the patients from their social network, initiating maladaptive patterns in the patients and worsening the burden of care on the relatives. In this particular study, we were interested in determining factors that correlate with length of stay on admission among in-patients receiving psychiatric services in North-Central Nigeria. The prospective study was part of a larger in-patients study conducted on 112 consenting patients admitted in the psychiatric wards of Benue State University Teaching Hospital Makurdi, Federal Medical Centre Makurdi and Jos University Teaching Hospital Jos during the study period. Patients who stayed on hospital admission for more than twenty-eight (28) days were classified as ‘long stay’, conversely, those who were discharged from admission after spending 28 days or less were referred to as ‘short stay’ patients. A total of 112 subjects were recruited for the study, 67(59.8%) were female while 45(40.2%) were male, the mean age was 36.98±11.09 years and 54(48.2%) subjects were still married at the time of the study. Forty-two representing 37.5% of the respondents stayed on admission for more than 28 days. The mean duration of stay was 28.8±24.5 days. Long duration of stay was found to be significantly associated with the quality of intimate partner relationship (p=0.001), years of completed education (p=0.021), age group (p=0.001), nature of psychiatric diagnosis (p=0.014), pharmacotherapy (p=0.001), comorbid physical condition (p=0.001), previous admission (p=0.001), defaulted treatment (p=0.001), frequency of previous episodes (p=0.001) and the number of years a patient has had the mental disorder (p=0.001). We concluded that, assessing duration of stay on admission among in-patients treatment for psychiatric disorders is very necessary.

A common factor in the development of mental disorders, including depression, is exposure to trauma. Boko Haram crisis has ravaged the North East part of Nigeria and has left indelible traumatic effect on the inhabitants especially the Internally Displaced People (IDPs) who fled their homes for survival. Previous studies reported high rates of depression and disability among IDPs. We set out to investigate the prevalence of depression, disability and correlates among the IDPs in two selected camps in Yobe state. We carried out a cross sectional study among 422 adult IDPs selected through a systematic sampling method. One hundred and ninety two (45.5%) were males. The mean age of the subjects was 39.4±18.50 years with range of 18-80 years. Of the 422 IDPs, 166(39.3%) had probable depression and 76(18.0%) had definite depression. Factors significantly associated with diagnosis of depression were; age (p=0.028), marital status (p=0.001), living condition (p=0.001), general health (p=0.001) and WHODAS 2.0 scores (p=0.001). Logistic regression revealed that age

The study of the pattern of inpatients referral to consultation-liaison unit is important as significant proportion of patients with physical illnesses also suffer from psychiatric disorder. It will help in designing better consultation-liaison services that is geared toward holistic health care. The study was aimed at determining the psychiatric morbidity, referral patterns and sociodemographic profiles of in-patients referred to consultation-liaison unit of Jos University Teaching Hospital. It was a descriptive prospective study of all consenting patients. A total of 142 patients were referred to consultation-liaison unit during the study period of August 2014 to July 2015. The referral rate was 1.7%. The mean age+SD of referred patients was 38+16.59 years. There were more females 84(59.2%) than males 58(40.8%). Among the referred patients majority had secondary education 60(42.3%) and were never-married 67(47.2%). The major source of referral 97(68.3%) was from medical ward and reasons for referral were; to help in management 68.3%, previous psychiatric contact 12.0% and abnormal behavior 10.6%. The predominant psychiatric diagnoses using ICD-10 criteria were depression 27(19.0%), acute organic brain syndrome 18(12.7%), alcohol dependence 15(10.6%) and puerperal psychosis/depression 12(8.5%). Co-morbid physical conditions were present in 123(86.6%) mainly, infections 25(17.6%), retroviral infections 18(12.7%), neurological conditions 8(5.6%), trauma/head injury 13(9.2%) and cardiovascular diseases 12(8.5%). The low referral rate and reasons for referral revealed the referring physicians scope of the understanding of psychiatry. Therefore, clinicians should be adequately exposed to basic knowledge of psychiatry and should be able to recognize common psychiatric conditions and referred appropriately for a holistic healthcare.

Background: Delirium is one of the most common medical emergencies and is associated with poor outcomes including: mortality, prolonged length of stay and poor functional outcome. The more severe delirium is the worst the clinical outcomes of medical illness. Despite the obvious, not much has been documented on delirium severity and its associated factors among medical inpatients in low income countries including Nigeria. Objectives: This study was conducted to examine the severity of delirium among medical inpatients admitted through the Accident and Emergency unit of Jos University Teaching Hospital as well as to assess its associated Sociodemographic and Clinical characteristics. Method: This was a cross-sectional study that employed a consecutive sampling technique to select 290 eligible subjects from medical inpatients that presented to Accident and Emergency unit of Jos University Teaching Hospital. On admission, patients were assessed for delirium using Confusion Assessment Method and severity of delirium was evaluated using Delirium Rating Scale-Revised-98. Results: Of the 105 delirious medical inpatients, 48 (45.7%) had severe delirium, 41 (39.1%) developed less severe delirium while 16 (15.2) presented with no severe delirium. Sociodemographic characteristics found to be significantly associated with less to more severe delirium include male gender (P = 0.001), nonprofessionals (P = 0.003), income range of N20,000 - N49,000 (P < 0.001) and being married (P = 0.022). However, prior cognitive impairment was found to be significantly associated with severe delirium (P < 0.001). Conclusion: This study demonstrates that delirium is often associated with higher severity in Accident and Emergency unit admission and there are strongly associated clinical characteristics to watch out for in high risk medical inpatients.

The association between substance use and criminality can be deduced from the acknowledgment of the increase of what are commonly called drug-defined offences, and those offences committed while under the influence of drug and/or alcohol. The aim of this study was to determine the prevalence of substance use disorder, the relationship between type of crime and demographic profile, and the relationship between offence committed and degree of intoxication with alcohol and illegal drugs at the time of crime among convicted and awaiting trial violent offenders. A cross-sectional descriptive study was carried out among 432 male inmates either convicted or awaiting trial in Jos maximum security prison, Plateau state. They completed a pro forma questionnaire containing their demographic and forensic profiles. They were screened with self-administered General Health Questionnaire item 28 and interviewed with the Composite International Diagnostic Interview questionnaire. The prevalence of substance use disorder was 54% (233). A significant correlation was found between type of offence committed and intoxication with substance at the time of crime (odds ratio = 0.3003; P= 0.001). High prevalence of substance use disorder was found among violent offenders in the prison.