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Illness behaviour refers to the activities undertaken by people that feel ill for the purpose of defining their state of health and discovering suitable remedies. This is influenced by cultural factors among others. The study is aimed at identifying and describing the illness behaviour of the Kambari, an ethnic group in the northern part of Niger State, Nigeria. A descriptive survey design was adopted and with the help of questionnaire, data was collected from 231 household heads in three communities of Magama Local Government Area, 75-80% of whose population constitute the Kambari. About 62.3% of the household heads were 31-50 years old, 88.7% were Muslims while 28.1% were followers of the Kambari traditional religion. Between 35-61% of household heads indicated malaria, skin diseases, diarrhoea and vomiting, dysentery/haemorrhoids, measles and typhoid fever as the most occurring illnesses among members and majority believed that the diseases are caused by natural, supernatural and mystical factors like contaminated water/food, germs, witchcraft, sorcery and evil spirits. A cumulative 65.8% indicated that they use traditional medicine for treatment and only 34.2% indicated the use of modern medicine alone. Findings reveals that 35.5% indicated that the household heads usually initiate the process of help seeking for sick members of the household and 50.6% revealed that household meetings are usually called to take decision about sick members. About 37.2% provide home treatment usually with herbs, a cumulative 48.9% engage the services of traditional healers while only 11.7% source treatment solely from the hospitals/clinics. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This study was conducted to identify the incidence and causes of maternal mortaiity as recorded in the maternity unit of the Ahmadu Bello University Teaching Hospital, Zaria. The study covered a period of five years i.e. between January, 2001 and December 2005. The objectives of the study were primarily to identify the number of women of child bearing age that died of pregnancy and childbirth complications in the maternity unit ofthe hospital, to identify the causes of maternal mortality recorded during the period of study and to identify the ante-natal care status of those that died including their ages and parity status. Utilizing a purposive sampling technique, all the women that died of pregnancy and child birth related problems from January, 2001 to December, 2005 were sorted out from the hospital records. The result shows that a total of 146 women died from a total of 6,440 recorded deliveries with the highest deaths record of 42(28.8%) recorded in 2003 and the least death cases of 22(15.1%) recorded in 2005. The deaths were said to be due to eclampsia (19.2%), post-partum haemorrhage (17.8%), puerperal sepsis (13.7%) and obstructed labour (10.3%) among others. Majority of those that died (65.7%) did not attend ante-natal clinics and 15% were aged 41-45 years. The Hndings also revealed that 38.4% were in the para 6-10 category. It is recommended that there should be public enlightenment/health education on girl child education, child spacing and ante-natal care as well as provision of trained midwives and other trained community health workers to provide maternal health services in the community. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This study was carried out between August and September 2005 to identify factors that influence post-basic/ University education among nurses in Kaduna state, Nigeria. The main objectives of the study were to identify factors that hinder nurses from acquiring higher education, to identify the post-basic/higher education acquired by the nurses in Kaduna state and to identify reasons for acquiring such qualifications by the nurses. A cluster sampling was used to select three hospitals from which a total of 200 nurses were proportionately selected using simple random sampling. Questionnaire was distributed to the 200 nurses from which 193 completed questionnaires were returned. The finding shows that majority of the respondents (40.4%) were aged 41-50 years and 65.8% were females with 66.3% of the respondents married. Also, 60.6% were Christians while 68.9% were holders of one post-basic nursing certificate or the other and 6.7% were holders of BSc/BNSc. Midwifery is the post-basic qualification with the highest number of holders (49.2%) while peri-operative nursing (11.9%) and paediatric nursing (9.3%) are some of the post-basic qualifications obtained by the nurses. The qualifications were obtained for promotion purposes (21.2%), due to recommendation for the course by employers (19.2%) and salaries /allowances (10.4%). Some of the reasons that hinder acquisition of higher education are financial constraints (19.2%), lack of in-service training programme (17.6%) and lack of proper placement after training (11.4%). It is therefore recommended that there should be in-service training facilities for nurses, there should be a scheme of service that will reflect qualifications while those with post-basic qualifications should be given special financial packages as salaries/allowances as well as promotion. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Background: Sexual violence among higher education students is a global public health problem. Identifying the characteristics of students who report victimization can serve as basis for programmes that target vulnerable students., Methods: The study was conducted among 30,114 Nigerian higher education students. They were selected from 18 institutions comprising universities, polytechnics, and colleges of education. The purpose of the study was to assess the characteristics of students who reported sexual violence (rape, attempted rape and sexual harassment) and to determine the association between reporting and their characteristics., Results: Our findings showed that 37% of the students reported experiencing sexual violence. Regression analysis showed that the odds of reporting among female students were two times greater than that of the male students (CI = 1.58-1.78; P < 0.001). The students who were traditionalists (aOR = 2.65, p < 0.001) or from other religious groups (aOR = 3.28, p < 0.001) had higher odds of reporting than those who were Christians. All the age groups represented in the study had significantly higher odds of reporting except those between 25 and 29 years (aOR = 1.03; p = 0.616). Non-final year students had significantly 7% lower odds of reporting (p = 0.037) than the first-year students. The students in the arts and humanities-related programmes significantly had higher odds of reporting than those in the science-related programs (aOR = 1.08; p = 0043). In addition, polytechnic and colleges of education students were two times more likely to report sexual violence than university students (p < 0.001). Also, the students from other regions were two times more likely to report sexual violence than those from Southwest region., Conclusion: The study concluded that sexual violence reporting by higher education students differ by their types of schools, sex, religion, level of education and geographical location., (© 2024. The Author(s).)

Introduction: This study examined the effectiveness of mobile phone reminders in improving the completeness and timeliness of childhood immunization., Method: We conducted a parallel arm cluster randomized controlled trial in four primary health care facilities in Nigeria. Reminders were sent to eligible participants in the intervention group at specific intervals when their children were scheduled to receive the vaccines administered at the sixth, 10, and 14 weeks after birth. Immunization records of all participants' children were then tracked to assess their immunization status., Results: The immunization status of the intervention (n = 275) and control (n = 261) arms was analyzed. Completeness and timeliness of the vaccine series were significantly higher (p < .001) among children of participants in the intervention (n = 169, 61.5% and n = 138, 50.2%) than those in the control group (n = 35, 13.4% and n = 13, 5%) arm., Discussion: Mobile phone reminders were established to be effective in increasing the completeness and timeliness of childhood immunization., Competing Interests: CONFLICTS OF INTEREST None to report. The authors thank the Applied Immunization research program, Faculty of Nursing University of Alberta, Edmonton, Canada, for providing us with space, support, and access to their resources while preparing this manuscript., (Copyright © 2024 The Authors. Published by Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.)

Background: Sexual violence is prevalent in higher education institutions in Nigeria and stakeholders have encouraged staff and students to blow the whistle whenever they fall victim to or are aware of any sexual violence case. However, there is lack of data about whether the staff and students of these institutions have the intention to blow the whistle internally (within the institution) or not. There is also a lack of data on the existing reporting mechanisms or preferred whistleblowing mechanisms in these institutions. These have hindered the analysis of stakeholders' opinions on this topic., Methods: This data note presents a comprehensive quantitative and qualitative data set collected from staff and students of three categories of government owned higher education institutions (Universities, Polytechnics, Colleges of Education) in Nigeria. Data collection was between February and December, 2021, during which quantitative data were collected from 21,937 students and 3,108 staff. Qualitatively, 138 students and 111 staff participated in a total of 35 focus group discussion sessions. The study provides unique information on respondents' attitude, self-efficacy, and subjective norm to sexual violence whistleblowing. It also provides information on self-reported sexual violence experiences, whistleblowing intention, reporting systems in higher institutions and the preferred sexual violence whistleblowing mechanisms., Conclusions: In this data note, we provide a detailed account of the variables in the dataset and then highlight the potential of this study to contribute to improved sexual violence reporting in higher education institutions, thereby reducing the occurrence of the social menace., Competing Interests: No competing interests were disclosed., (Copyright: © 2024 Ogunfowokan AA et al.)

Sexual violence with its enormous negative consequences has become an epidemic most especially among the young populations. An effective danger-proof reporting system is necessary for curbing this menace including use of the internal whistleblowing mechanism. The study employed a concurrent (parallel) mixed method descriptive design for explaining the sexual violence experiences of university students, the intention of staff and students to blow the whistle, and their preferred whistleblowing strategies. A total of 167 students and 42 members of staff (69% males and 31% females, respectively) were randomly selected from four academic departments (50%) of a university of technology in Southwest Nigeria. An adapted questionnaire containing three vignettes on sexual violence and a focus group discussion guide were used for data collection. We discovered that 16.1% of the students reported to have experienced sexual harassment, 12.3% had attempted rape, and 2.6% had experienced rape. Tribe ( Likelihood-Ratio, LR  = 11.16; p  = .004) and sex (χ 2  = 12.65; p  = .001) were strongly associated with sexual violence experiences. Also, 50% staff and 47% students had high intention. Regression analysis showed that industrial and production engineering students will be 2.8 times more likely to have intention to internally blow the whistle more than other students ( p  = .03; 95% CI [1.1, 6.97]). Female staff had 5.73 odds of intention more than male staff ( p  = .05; [1.02, 32.1]). Also, we observed that senior staff will 31% less likely blow the whistle than the junior staff (Adjusted Odd Ratio, AOR = 0.04; [0.00, 0.98]; p  = .05). In our qualitative findings, courage was mentioned as a factor necessary for blowing the whistle while anonymous reporting was emphasized for successful whistleblowing. However, the students preferred external whistleblowing. The study has implication for the establishment of sexual violence internal whistleblowing reporting system in higher education institutions.

Background: Maternal mortality reduction remains a world health priority. One of the causes of maternal death is bleeding after childbirth. However, little is known regarding barriers to reporting for postpartum hemorrhage care among postnatal women in Nigeria., Objective: This research aimed to understand the perceived barriers to reporting postpartum hemorrhage care experienced by women and healthcare workers in Birnin Kebbi, North west-Nigeria., Methods: Qualitative case research was employed in this study with face-to-face interviews among ten postnatal women who experienced bleeding and six healthcare workers. Data were collected from September to November 2021. The interviews were all audio-taped, transcribed verbatim, and analyzed using thematic analysis. NVivo Pro Version 12 was applied to organize further and manage the data., Results: Six themes were developed: (1) knowledge deficit, (2) poor attitudes, behaviors, and performances, (3) low socioeconomic status, (4) lack of healthcare personnel, (5) cultural norms, and (6) lack of access to healthcare facilities., Conclusion: The study findings might serve as input for healthcare policymakers and healthcare workers to improve health and reduce maternal mortality. Enhancing knowledge and awareness about reporting process is necessary to improve reporting for postpartum hemorrhage care among women. Training and continuous professional development of health care workers are also highly suggested to enhance the quality of care., Competing Interests: The authors declare no conflicts of interest with respect to the authorship and publication of this article., (© The Author(s) 2022.)

Background: Childhood immunisation coverage is very low in Nigeria (31%) with Zamfara State being amongst the states with the poorest coverage (<10%). Lack of maternal knowledge, attitude, outcome expectations, self-efficacy, cultural beliefs and assumptions of religious regulations of antenatal mothers towards childhood immunisation are the contributory factors to poor childhood immunisation uptake. This study aims is to develop, implement and evaluate the effects of an immunisation health educational intervention with application of Social Cognitive Theory on pregnant women to improve knowledge, attitude, outcome expectations, self-efficacy, cultural beliefs and assumptions on religious regulations regarding childhood immunization uptake in Federal Medical Centre Gusau, Zamfara State, Nigeria., Methodology: The study will be a single-blind parallel-group randomised controlled trial, where baseline data will be collected from 392 estimated antenatal mothers, after that they will be evenly randomised using randomly generated permuted block sizes (each containing two intervention and two control assignments). The study participants will be antenatal mothers of ages 18 years and above who are in third trimesters and attending Federal Medical Centre Gusau, Zamfara State, Nigeria; during the study period and fulfilled all the inclusion and exclusion criteria. The intervention group will undergo five-health education sessions on immunisation, which will be strictly guided by Social Cognitive Theory-based intervention module: while the control group will receive usual care (standard care). Follow-up data will be collected using the same questionnaire at 6-weeks post-delivery, 10-weeks post-delivery and 14-weeks post-delivery. The generalized linear mixed model will be carried-out to determine the overall effect of the intervention after controlling for 14 potential confounding variables. An intention to treat analysis will also be carried-out. Childhood immunisation uptake is the primary outcome while the secondary outcomes are: improved knowledge scores, attitude scores, outcomes expectation, self-efficacy scores, cultural beliefs scores and assumptions on religious regulations scores., Discussion: The study will be a randomised controlled trial, that focuses on the effects of an immunisation health educational intervention with application of Social Cognitive Theory on pregnant women to improve knowledge, attitude, outcome expectations, self-efficacy, cultural beliefs and assumptions on religious regulations regarding childhood immunisation uptake in Federal Medical Centre Gusau, Zamfara State, Nigeria., Trial Registration: Pan African Clinical Trial Registry PACTR202006722055635. Protocol registered on 09 June 2020., Competing Interests: The authors have declared that no competing interests exist., (Copyright: © 2022 Galadima et al. This is an open access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License, which permits unrestricted use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original author and source are credited.)

Immunization remains one of the most effective public health interventions offering protection for children from vaccine preventable diseases. However, many children living in low- and- middle income countries do not get adequate immunization due to several factors. Mobile phone reminder interventions have shown great potential in enhancing a number of immunization outcomes. However, the evidence supporting its use in these countries is vague. This systematic review was conducted to provide evidence for mobile phone reminder in enhancing immunization uptake, completeness and timeliness. This review was conducted in accordance to the PRISMA recommendations. Three online databases; PubMed, Cochrane Library and African Journals Online, were systematically searched for potentially relevant studies. Screening of records (titles/abstracts from and full-texts) was done using Covidence. Meta-analyses were conducted using the Cochrane Collaboration Review Manager (v5.4). The GRADEpro was used to evaluate the certainty of evidence/summary of findings. Eleven RCTs assessing immunization uptake, completeness and/or timeliness by means of SMS, phone calls or a combination of voice message and SMS were included in both quantitative and qualitative synthesis. Overall, the included studies were of moderate quality. Majority of the included studies indicated that mobile phone reminders were beneficial. Meta-analyses indicated that using mobile phone reminder interventions for the review outcomes was of variable effect with high level of heterogeneity. A combination of voice message and SMS has a greater effect followed by phone calls then SMS reminders for immunization completeness. The use of SMS for immunization uptake and timeliness were largely insignificant (p > 0.05). Furthermore, evidence to support the efficacy of mobile phone reminder from the GRADE synthesis was between low and moderate. Mobile phone reminders, particularly a combination of voice message + SMS and perhaps phone calls appears to be more effective in enhancing immunization outcomes. However, more studies are required in view of methodological inadequacies in existing studies., Competing Interests: Declaration of Competing Interest The authors declare that they have no known competing financial interests or personal relationships that could have appeared to influence the work reported in this paper., (Copyright © 2020 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.)

Mental health services at the primary healthcare level remain critical in most developing countries, especially in resource-poor and crisis-stricken communities. This study explored the erstwhile mental health services, with particular reference to their availability, at the 47 primary healthcare centres in three selected states in northern Nigeria, with a view to drawing for action. Qualitative data were collected from a purposive sample of 13 participants through in-depth interviews. Additional data were also collected from observations during the visits (a checklist based on minimum standards for primary healthcare services) and clinic records at the centres. The data were analysed using content analysis and thematic clustering to indicate the status of the mental health services at the primary healthcare centres. Despite having the mental health units on the service delivery charts of the primary healthcare centres studied, none was providing any formal mental health services. There were only few but uncoordinated services in some centres essentially provided by individual primary healthcare service providers and a non-governmental organization found in one of the 47 primary healthcare centres in one of the three states investigated. In conclusion, mental health services at all primary healthcare centres in all the Local Government Areas in all the states visited are at best scarce, poorly and haphazardly rendered in a few places or completely absent in most centres. There is an urgent need to stimulate the primary healthcare system and other levels of government and their partners, to initiate or activate policies in favour of community-based mental health services to make these important services available at the community (primary healthcare) level for the promotion of mental health and treatment of mental illnesses.