Tropical Journal of Health Sciences

Editorial comments

Ab Okesina — 2024-04-19

No abstract

Health-related climate indicator across four states in Nigeria: Respiratory rate prediction and multivariate analysis approach

A.T. Towolawi — 2024-04-19

Respiratory rate prediction(RRP) is vital for human or animal medical check-ups for a good health and well-being (SDG 3) to be established. The RRP is one of the biometeorological indices adopted to determine health-related climate indication, which is categorised into normal: ≤85, warning: between 85 and 110, danger: between 110 and 133, and emergency: ≥133. The study obtained 32-year (1987-2018) data of temperature, relative humidity, wind speed and solar radiation from the archive of Nigeria Meteorological Agency, Abuja. The data were adopted to compute the RRP across four rain-fed States (Benue, Edo, Niger (Bida and Minna) and Ondo) in Nigeria and further subjected to multi variate analysis. The reliability test showed that the data had acceptable internal consistency with Cronbach's value of 0.773, and the monthly RRP significantly (p<0.05) varied across the study locations and their environs over 32years.ThePrincipal Component Analysis (PCA) categorised the rainy periods (April to October) under component 1 with a 49 % variance while the dry periods (January, February, November and December) except March under component 2 with a 17 % variance. Benue, Edo, Niger (Bida) and their environs had more prevalence of warning category of RRP (between 85 and 110) than Ondo, Niger (Minna) and their environs. The study deduced that the health-related climate indication prevailed more in the wet than the dry
periods, necessitating inhabitants of the study locations to understand their thermal regime for climate change coping capacities,

Effect of mobile phone reminders in the timeliness of administration of pentavalent vaccines to children in Kano State, Nigeria

U. Yunusa — 2024-04-19

Immunization has over the last three decades significantly reduced the rate of under-five children mortality from vaccine preventable disease. However, many children especially in low- and middle-income countries still do not get vaccinated with age-appropriate vaccines. This study to examined the effectiveness of mobile phone reminders in the timeliness of the administration of pentavalent vaccines. The study utilized SMS and follow-up calls to remind mothers about the immunization schedule of their children. The reminders were sent to the mothers 3 days to and on the due date of their child's schedule for the 1st, 2nd and 3rd doses of pentavalent vaccine. Both mothers who received the reminders (reminder group) and those who did not (control group) were then tracked in focal health facilities to see if they get their children vaccinated on time. A total of 541 mothers (271 in the reminder group and 270 in the control group) participated in the study. The proportion of children immunized with the three doses of pentavalent vaccines in time was significantly higher (P = 0.001) in the reminder group (n=102, 37.6%) compared to those in the control group (n=63, 23.3%). It was concluded that although mobile phone reminder was found to be effective in increasing the timeliness of the pentavalent vaccines in the studied population, the rate of timeliness was still low. There is therefore, a need for further studies to explore innovative and technological approaches to increase the timeliness of routine childhood immunization.

Epidemiology and Indications for major limb amputations in Ilorin, Nigeria

G.H. Ibraheem — 2024-04-19

Limb amputation refers to the removal of a limb or part of a limb through the bone. It is one of the oldest surgical procedures known to man. In the western world, dysvascular amputations (secondary to complications from diabetes mellitus and peripheral vascular disease) account for most of the amputations done. Traditionally, trauma and complications from badly managed traumatic injuries continue to account for most of the major limb amputations in Nigeria. We sought to evaluate the indications and patient characteristics amongst patients who had major limb amputations over a four-year period at a University Teaching Hospital in North-Central Nigeria. Eighty-seven patients had major limb amputations in the period under review. The majority (63%) of the amputees were male and 78% of the amputees had lower limb amputations. Dysvascular amputations (45.8%) and complications of trauma (43.4%) accounted for similar proportions of the causes of amputations in the study. Two peak age groups were involved: the third decade of life where traumatic causes predominated; and the seventh decade of life where dysvascular causes predominated. Public health interventions need to be intensified to improve management of traumatic injuries to reduce the rate of amputations in this cohort while improved education and management of diabetic patients will reduce the rate of dysvascular amputations.

Utilization of hospital library by health workers in a tertiary health institution in Ilorin, Kwara State

O.I. Musa — 2024-04-19

The task of providing quality health care services require the use of current health information; and hospital library seems to be the most appropriate source of organized and well-articulated information for health workers. This descriptive cross-sectional study was carried to determine the use of hospital library by health workers at the University of Ilorin Teaching Hospital with a view to generating data that can used to improve the services and make the library more user friendly to the health workers. Analysis of 280 questionnaires returned by consenting health workers selected through simple random sampling showed that 244(87%) of the respondents used the library, and a significant proportion of the Doctors were found to use the library facilities more than any group of health professionals (P value<0.05). Although reading of library textbooks was the commonest service often sought by the users (80%), reading of newspapers/magazines for recreational purpose was common among the health workers (65.6%) Most of the health workers 176(72%) felt that relevant/current textbooks were not available and 156(64%) said relevant/current journals were inadequate; while majority expressed difficulty in accessing Medline service, medical video cassettes and photocopier in the library. Non-availability of the required services and lack of academic challenges that require using the lhospital library were some of the excuses given by those who do not use the facility. The constraints facing the library users were mostly related to lack of current books and journals, poor Medline service and short hours of service during the weekend. There is a need to strengthen the hospital library by extending the hours of service to the users, subscribing to various medical journals and procurement of current and relevant books so that the operational goals and aspiration of the Teaching hospital in terms of quality service, teaching and research can be achieved through medical library.

Exclusive breastfeeding amongst mothers: Awareness and practice in Ogbomoso, South West Nigeria

A.O. Ogunlaja — 2024-04-19

Breastfeeding is considered as the most complete nutritional source for an infant as it contains all that is needed for such infant to thrive and survive in the formative first year of life. Exclusive breast feeding implies giving a baby no other food, solid or water), except breast milk and it is encouraged to be practiced. However, in many developing countries like Nigeria this practice is not optimal. This study was carried out to examine the knowledge and practice of exclusive breastfeeding amongst mothers in Ogbomoso. This was cross sectional study which involved a total of 342 respondents. The questionnaire was pretested and was administered by interviewers. The mean age of the administered by interviewers. The mean age of the study participant was 40.06±11.14 years. Majority of the respondents(98.54%) were aware of the benefits of breastfeeding. Two hundred and thirty eight 238(69.6%) of the participants exclusively breastfed for six months, however One hundred and fifty one mothers accounting for 44.4% had started breastfeeding within one hour after delivery. Despite the knowledge of the mothers about exclusive breastfeeding, its practice was not satisfactory amongst respondents. This is due to mother's lack of formal education, poor antenatal care attendance and lack of support from husband. Promotion of women's education, job empowerment encouraging antenatal care and exclusive breastfeeding counseling during antenatal care are recommended to improve exclusive breastfeeding practice.

Allergy-induced adenoid hypertrophy in adult: A case report

N.O. Iyanda — 2024-04-19

Adenoid hypertrophy is relatively uncommon in adults. The adenoid hypertrophies physiologically in children up to 9 years and then begins to atrophy between 7 to 9 years until 16 years. Symptoms of allergic rhinosinusitis in adults may mask that of adenoid obstructive symptoms when the two coexist. We report a case of a 20-year-old female with adenoid hypertrophy with an unusual nasal symptom overlapping with features of allergic rhinosinusitis. This study highlights the clinical presentation and radiological evaluation of the patient with a review of pertinent literature. We concluded that adenoid hypertrophy in adults could be an accompanying feature of allergy. A high index of suspicion and a thorough nasopharyngeal examination are critical to prompt diagnosis.

Onychogryphosis of the finger: A case report

G. H. Ibraheem — 2024-04-19

Onychogryphosis is a disorder of nail growth characterized by thickening and increase in length and curvature of the nail plate either upward (ram's horn dystrophy) or downward (oyster like onychogryphosis). It is mostly found in the feet of elderly, invalid patients due to neglected self-care behaviours. It may however occur following trauma to the nail bed. The presence of onychogryphosis in elderly patients may contribute to difficulty in using appropriate footwear and restriction of use of the hands. We managed an elderly man with finger onychogryphosis following trauma to the nail in a background of limb paresis. Excision of the nail plate and matricectomy was done as a definitive surgical treatment for the condition. This enabled better function of the hand and allowed easier performance of activities of daily living.