METHODS: A cross-sectional design method was used to recruit 220 mothers (age=14-25 years) from four communities in the city of Maiduguri, Northeastern Nigeria. Participants were surveyed using a self-developed interviewer-administered questionnaire that assesses maternal and child health indices and sociodemographic characteristics. Logistic regression analysis was used to compute adjusted OR and 95% CI of the associations between motherhood in adolescence (mothers below 18 years old) and maternal and child health indices.
RESULTS: Compared to adult mothers, adolescent mothers were more likely to experience fistula (OR=5.01, 95% CI=3.01 to 14.27), to have postpartum haemorrhage (OR=6.83, 95% CI=2.93 to 15.92), to have sexually transmitted infections (OR=6.29, 95% CI=2.26 to 17.51) and to lose a child within 5 years of birth (OR=3.52, 95% CI=1.07 to 11.60). Children born to adolescent mothers were less likely to have normal weight at birth (OR=0.34, CI=0.15 to 0.73) than those born to adult mothers.
CONCLUSION: Adolescent motherhood was associated with negative maternal and child health indices. The findings can be used by public health professionals including physiotherapists in this role to inform effective primary healthcare practice and community health advocacy to improve maternal and child health indices among adolescent mothers in Maiduguri. Future studies are needed to confirm the evidence at the regional or national level including the rural population in Nigeria.
Objective: This study assessed the impact of heat on the health and productivity among maize farmers in a hot tropical country.
Methods: A cross-sectional study was conducted among 396 maize farmers, randomly selected across Gombe province, Nigeria. The wet bulb globe temperature monitor (WBGT) Model QuesTemp036 was used in determining the heat index. Health was determined using a validated questionnaire, while productivity was determined by recording work output based on the number of ridges cultivated during the working hours.
Results: The farms recorded mean heat index with standard deviation (SD) of 31.56 (2.19) and 34.08 (1.54) in the hours of 9 am to 12 pm and 12-3 pm respectively, which exceeded the threshold level set by the ACGIH. Heavy sweating (93.2%), tiredness (48.5%), dizziness (34.1%), and headache (40.4%) were experienced by the respondents almost on daily basis. The finding further showed a significant difference in the farmers' productivity during the three time duration of the work day (p < 0.001). The productivity was significantly higher between the hours of 6-9 am (p < 0.001) and 12-3 pm (p < 0.001), compared to the hours of 9 am to 12 pm (p < 0.001). The factors that significantly predict the productivity outcome include temperature (p < 0.001), gender (p < 0.001), age (p=0.033), and BMI (p=0.008).
Conclusion: The farmers were frequently experiencing heat exhaustion which decreased their productivity.
PURPOSE: This study explores the menstrual experiences of people with DSD and sex reassignment in Nigeria.
METHODS: A qualitative approach with a phenomenological study design was employed in this study to explore and describe the experiences of people with DSD at the Usmanu Danfodiyo University Teaching Hospital in Sokoto, Nigeria. The data were collected using face-to-face interviews, transcribed verbatim, and analyzed using NVivo software.
RESULTS: The findings show that the participants experienced menstrual problems: men with menstruation and women with amenorrhea. The female participants generally described amenorrhea as a disappointment and linked menstruation with womanhood. Amenorrhea evinced both emotional and psychological effects. However, some of the female participants considered amenorrhea in a positive light and were happy with their lives without menstruation. The menstrual experiences of male participants included menarche, lower abdominal pain, regular monthly bleeding, and ovulation. The male participants described menstruation as a disaster in their lives and a source of anxiety, suicidal ideation, and depression. Menstruation negatively affected their psychosocial well-being.
CONCLUSIONS: The menstrual experience of individuals with DSD negatively affects their quality of life. The women with DSD in this study showed a generally poor knowledge of menarche, menstruation, and puberty, indicating that their parents had ignored the initial symptoms of DSD. DSD were only recognized at puberty because of the development of ambiguous physical traits and of the onset of menstruation in men and the confirmation of amenorrhea in women.
MATERIALS AND METHODS: We analysed internationally comparable representative household survey data from 33,482 respondents aged ≥ 15 years in Indonesia, Malaysia, Romania, Argentina and Nigeria for determinants of tobacco use within each country. Socio-demographic variables analysed included gender, age, residency, education, wealth index and awareness of smoking health consequences. Current tobacco use was defined as smoking or use of smokeless tobacco daily or occasionally.
RESULTS: The overall prevalence of tobacco use varied from 5.5% in Nigeria to 35.7% in Indonesia and was significantly higher among males than females in all five countries. Odds ratios for current tobacco use were significantly higher among males for all countries [with the greatest odds among Indonesian men (OR=67.4, 95% CI: 51.2-88.7)] and among urban dwellers in Romania. The odds of current tobacco use decreased as age increased for all countries except Nigeria where. The reverse was true for Argentina and Nigeria. Significant trends for decreasing tobacco use with increasing educational levels and wealth index were seen in Indonesia, Malaysia and Romania. Significant negative associations between current tobacco use and awareness of adverse health consequences of smoking were found in all countries except Argentina.
CONCLUSIONS: Males and the socially and economically disadvantaged populations are at the greatest risk of tobacco use. Tobacco control interventions maybe tailored to this segment of population and incorporate educational interventions to increase knowledge of adverse health consequences of smoking.