The effectiveness of combined control measures on the prevalence of guinea worm disease in Anambra State, Nigeria

1991 ◽  
Vol 65 (3) ◽  
pp. 226-231 ◽  
Author(s):  
O. C. Nwaorgu

ABSTRACTThe prevalence of guinea worm Dracunculus medinensis was determined in communities in Anambra State, Eastern Nigeria during the 1984–1985 guinea worm season. Thereafter combined intervention measures which included health education and community participation in pond treatment were introduced in one of the two communities. There was a decrease in disease prevalence from 88.7% to 33% in Group A (372 households) and from 88% to 53% in Group B (368 households), two years after control measures were introduced in Igbeagu community. However, in 345 households in Mpu community without control measures, any decrease was not significant (from 88·7% to 86·5%). Health Education combined with pond disinfection proved to be a much better intervention measure, contributing to the change in attitude and therefore decrease in disease prevalence, than pond disinfection alone.

2012 ◽  
Vol 01 (07) ◽  
pp. 51-61
Author(s):  
Nanik Ram ◽  
Altaf Hussain Ansari

This research explores income patterns and determinants of rural poverty in Sindh province. The Data were collected from 300 households from two districts i.e. Khairpur, and Thatta of Sindh Pakistan by using the simple random technique; a structural questionnaire was design as an instrument tool for measuring the poverty determinants and income patterns. The households are classified into three groups i.e. A, B and C. Group A and B are below subsistence holding and group C is related to subsistence holding and, all the households were engaged in farm production . It was revealed that the average size of farm A group is 7.2 acres but the grower cultivates average area 4.5 acres and the remaining 2.7 acres are not cultivated by them due to deficiency of water. In the same way, the grower of group B cultivates 7.475 acres instead of 11.5 acres and grower of C group cultivates 16.56 acres in place of 27.6 acres. The surveyed data of district Khairpur describes that the average size of farm of group A is 7.47 acres but each grower average cultivates 4.78 acres and the remaining 2.69 acres are uncultivated. Similarly, the grower of B group cultivates 7.462 acres instead of 11.9 acres and the grower of C group brings 17.4 acres under cultivation in place of 29 acres. The surveyed data of both districts clearly indicate that the income of all growers is low because they do not bring all land under cultivation. The surveyed data has further pointed out that 50% households are below the official poverty line, 33.33% households are just above poverty line and 16.67% well above official poverty line. The group C is in a better position to provide health, education etc facilities to their family members.


2021 ◽  
Author(s):  
Shuping Hao ◽  
Sisi Tan ◽  
Jing Li ◽  
Weimin Li ◽  
Jingyun Li ◽  
...  

Abstract Background: At present, there are few studies on individualized dietary guidance and exercise intervention for perimenopausal women. The purpose of this article is to explore the effects of centralized health education, health education + individualized diet guidance, and health education + individualized diet guidance + intensive resistance exercise on the physical measurements of perimenopausal women. Design: 78 perimenopausal women divided into three groups: Group A, Group B and Group C. Participants: Group A received routine gynecological diagnosis and treatment and participated in centralized lifestyle health education. Group B required to participate in all intensive education content, professional dietitians to give individualized dietary guidance. Group C received intensive education, individualized diet intervention, and intensified resistance exercise. Main Measures: Dietary scores, exercise habits, waist circumference, body mass index, fat and muscle mass were observed after 3 months. Results: After intervention, the total diet score of group C was higher than that of group A and B, and the red meat score was significantly reduced. The number of patients in group B and group C who exercised >3 times per week and the number of resistance exercises per week were significantly increased, while the number of aerobic exercises per week in group C was significantly increased. Comparison of the changes of body measurement indexes after the three different interventions showed that body fat and waist circumference were significantly reduced, and skeletal muscle weight was significantly increased; body mass index, trunk fat ratio and waist to hip ratio were significantly decreased in group B and C, while trunk muscle was significantly increased in group C. Conclusion: The combined intervention of the three methods can give full play to the synergistic effect of various interventions, and the improvement effect of increasing the appropriate amount of resistance exercise is more obvious, which is worthy of further promotion and application. Retrospectively registered: researchregistry6331, date of registration : December 4, 2020.


Author(s):  
Matthias May ◽  
Mohammad Shaar

Abstract Background In German hospitals, severe shortage of physicians can currently be partially compensated by hiring foreign physicians. Results on job satisfaction (JS) and physician burnout (PBO) in this important occupational group are currently not available. Methods The cross-sectional “Assessment of their urological work environment by foreign clinicians in Germany (EUTAKD)” study was conducted in 2020 using a 101-item questionnaire among physicians working in German urological departments who were born in a country outside Germany and having non-German citizenship. This study compared JS and the occurrence of PBO between Arab (group A, n = 57) and non-Arab (group B, n = 39) participants. Results Significant group differences with advantages for group B were analyzed in overall JS and also in other JS items. High scores in the PBO dimensions, that is, “emotional exhaustion” and “depersonalization,” were shown by 27.9 and 51.5% of the study participants, respectively, although there were no group differences found (p = 0.972 and 0.237, respectively). Conclusion Prospective longitudinal studies of appropriate intervention measures aimed at increasing JS and decreasing PBO are needed.


Author(s):  
Doris O. Obasi ◽  
Johnpaul N. Azorji ◽  
Nathaniel E. Onyenwe ◽  
Obianuju O. Duru

Aim: To analyze the Knowledge Management Practice Studies among the Plasmodium falciparum positive patients attending outpatient departments in AWKA, South Anambra state. Study Design: Blood samples were randomly collected from 210 febrile patients attending the OPD and interviewed on malaria knowledge and management practice, using semi-structured questionnaire from three different clinical laboratories, two of which are hospitals. Place and duration of Study: This study was carried out in Medical Microbiology and Parasitology unit of Anambra State University teaching Hospital, Awka South, South-East Nigeria between February and August, 2013. Methodology: Thick & thin blood smears were stained and examined under microscope. At least 100 oil immersion fields were examined for diagnosis and parasite count was done against 200 WBC from thick smear. The questionnaire was analyzed using Statistical Package for the Social Sciences SPSS (P < 0.05). Results: The national drug policy for malaria treatment during the study period were found to be pyrimethamine, co-trimoxazole, sulphamethaxazole, and in few cases arthemether/lumefantrine. The prevalence rate of P. falciparum was 74.8% (157/210), while those on both sexes were 56.1 % and 43.9 % in females and males respectively. Only 44.3%, 32.4%, 30.5% of the population studied showed good knowledge, attitude and practice respectively towards malaria infections. Conclusion: The prevalence of P. falciparum were 22.3% and 21.1% in ages 5- 14 and 45- 54 respectively. Studies revealed that most people have good knowledge of malaria but give less attention to its preventive and control measures, thereby presenting very poor attitude and poor practice even when exposed to the infection. These issues may pose a problem, such as drug resistance when proper intervention measures are not followed.


2021 ◽  
Author(s):  
Jing Zeng ◽  
Rong-Bing Zhang ◽  
Wei Wang ◽  
Jing-Jiu Ke ◽  
Xiang Wu ◽  
...  

Abstract Background: Military training injury is a difficult problem in the field of military training. This study aimed to evaluate the effectiveness and feasibility of functional movement screen (FMS) evaluation system and individualized intervention measures in preventing military training injuries.Methods: A total of 420 recruits from a unit of the People's Liberation Army of China (PLA) were included as the research object. According to random grouping method, they were divided into observation group (Group A) and control group (Group B) , with 210 patients in each group. Before recruit training, individual FMS were performed, and functional correction training was performed in the observation group according to the test scores, while no intervention measures were applied in the control group. After three months of training, the tests were repeated. Age, body mass index (BMI) and incidence of military training injuries were recorded during the training period.Results: There was no statistical difference between the two groups in age, BMI, FMS score before the training (P > 0.05). After receiving functional correction training, the FMS score of the Group A was higher than that of the Group B, and the difference was statistically significant (P < 0.05). The incidence of military training injury in Group A and Group B was 20.95% and 44.02%, respectively (P < 0.05), and the difference was statistically significant.Conclusion: The evaluation system of FMS and individualized intervention measures are feasible and effective in predicting and reducing the occurrence of military training injuries.


2021 ◽  
Vol 7 (2) ◽  
pp. 51-56
Author(s):  
David Nitrushwa ◽  
Rahel Ghebre ◽  
Marie A Unyuzimana ◽  
Urania Magriples ◽  
Maria Small ◽  
...  

Objective: Emergency Cesarean Section (ECS) improves maternal and neonatal outcomes but can be associated with complications including Surgical Site Infections (SSI). Prophylactic antibiotics reduce SSIs but inappropriate use increases antibiotic resistance. The study aim was to assess single versus multiple-dose antibiotic prophylaxis for SSI prevention in a limited-resource setting. Methods: All patients undergoing ECS in a rural district hospital were assessed for eligibility from 2015 to 2016. Participants were randomized, Group A received one dose of 2 g Ampicillin 15 to 60 minutes before skin incision and Group B received 2 g prior to skin incision with additional 1g every 8 hours over 72 hours. Participants were followed for 30 days, Demographic and clinical data were collected by chart review and patient phone interviews were performed on Days 3, 7, 15 and 30. Results: Three hundred and one participants were analyzed (147 in Group A; 154 in Group B). There were 8 surgical site infections in Group A and 4 in Group B (p=0.089). The overall prevalence of surgical site infections was lower than expected (4.00%). Most of SSIs cases were diagnosed on day 7 (66.6% of all cases of SSI) and only 22.2% of cases were diagnosed at discharge (day 3). Only 1 additional case was diagnosed at day 15. Conclusion: Compliance to infection control measures can reduce the rate of SSIs. There was no significant difference between the use of a single vs multiple doses of prophylactic antibiotics in our study but the SSI rate was low.


Author(s):  
Ishita Chandarana ◽  
Pratik B. Kariya ◽  
Sweta Singh ◽  
Adrija Buch

Introduction: Cerebral palsy [CP] is a group of neuromuscular disorders which affects the development of movement and posture, limiting normal functional activity. Thus, it is presumed to establish an early contact with CP children to diagnose oral diseases and to introduce certain preventive home care measures to maintain good oral health. This study was conducted to check the effectiveness of three different oral health education modalities among cerebral palsy patients. Methodology: A cross-sectional interventional study was conducted among 60 Cerebral Palsy children aged 8 to 15 years from the selected residential schools for neurodevelopmental disabilities of Vadodara. Participants from a particular school were divided randomly into 3 groups based on different oral health education modalities. Group A: These children and their caretaker were given normal verbal instruction on how to brush their teeth by Fone’s technique on a one-to-one basis. Group B: These children and their caretaker were given a tooth brushing demonstration on a tooth model. Group C: These children and their caretaker were shown an audiovisual clip showing how to brush. The oral hygiene practice was reinforced every visit. OHI-S index was recorded on the day of the demonstration, 7 days and 14 days by the principal investigator, and analyzed. Results: The audio-visual method group showed a marked reduction in the OHI-S score measured from baseline to day 14 when compared to the verbal and model group that is 1.76±0.96 when compared to other two groups that are group A with OHI-S score 2.36±0.96 and GROUP B with OHI-S score 2.51±0.87.  The confidence of the interval was -CI=0.044-1.470. The results were the statistically significant result. (p value<0.035)Also, Group C showed a significant reduction in the DI scores as compared to the other two groups. Conclusion: The audiovisual method with brushing video can be effectively used to maintain the good oral hygiene and gingival health of children with Cerebral Palsy. The audiovisual method helps to overcome their motor difficulties and their limited ability to perform dental plaque control.


2021 ◽  
Vol 21 (2) ◽  
pp. 951-959
Author(s):  
Rasheedat Ibraheem ◽  
Moshood Akintola ◽  
Mohammed Abdulkadir ◽  
Hafsat Ameen ◽  
Oladimeji Bolarinwa ◽  
...  

Background: Reminders via mobile devices deployed as short message services (SMS) or calls have been identified to be a useful strategy in improving routine immunization uptake in several countries. Objective: To identify the timeliness of appointments with reminders (calls or SMS), SMS health education and the routine care, and the vaccination completion rates in Ilorin, Nigeria. Method: Mother-infant pairs presenting for the first vaccination appointment were randomized into four (three inter- ventions, one control) groups, each consisting of 140 participants. Intervention groups were reminders via calls (A), SMS reminders (B), immunization fact SMS messages (C) and controls on usual care (D). Reminders were made a day before the appointment while SMS immunization facts were sent at five weeks, nine weeks and eight months. Appropriate timing was defined as the scheduled visit ±3 days. Results: The immunization completion rates after the nine months’ visit were 99.2%, 99.3%, 97% and 90.4% for Groups A, B, C and D respectively. Compared with controls, Group A had the highest odds [AOR 8.78 (6.10, 12.63)] of presenting at an appropriate time, followed by Group B [AOR 2.56 (1.96, 3.35)], then Group C [AOR 2.44 (1.87, 3.18)]. Conclusion: Reminders/SMS immunization facts improve vaccination completion rates. Keywords: Call reminders; short message services (SMS) reminders; SMS immunization; vaccination timing; Nigeria.


2021 ◽  
Vol 12 (3) ◽  
pp. 2014-2019
Author(s):  
Jayabalan Prakash ◽  
Tittu Thomas James ◽  
Shubham Menaria ◽  
Anas Usman ◽  
Centina Rose John

COVID-19 impacted many lives around the globe, leading to a nationwide lockdown in India from the 25th of March 2020. Home confinement, physical and social isolation, the spread of false news through social media, fear of contracting the disease, lack of physical activity, and work-from-home situations have affected the mental status and sleep quality of individuals during the lockdown. We intended to identify the effect of belly breathing exercise in reducing the depression, anxiety and stress levels in individuals who work-from-home during the lockdown. A hundred participants were identified through snowball sampling and were divided into two equal groups. Group A received a health education program and belly breathing techniques, whereas group B was provided with a health education program alone. DASS 21 and single item Sleep Quality Scale was assessed before recruitment and after three weeks of intervention in both groups. Significant reduction in depression, anxiety, and stress levels were observed in group A (p<0.001) than that of group B. Participants who underwent belly breathing also reported significant improvement in sleep quality after three weeks of intervention. Belly breathing has found to be an effective and simple technique to instruct and perform, which significantly reduces depression, anxiety and stress levels in individuals who work from home and are in need of medical advice for their mental health status. We suggest the use of belly breathing in improving the mental status in any black swan events such as home quarantine or strict physical isolation measures, and even during any stressful situations.


Author(s):  
Taber A. Ba-Omar ◽  
Philip F. Prentis

We have recently carried out a study of spermiogenic differentiation in two geographically isolated populations of Aphanius dispar (freshwater teleost), with a view to ascertaining variation at the ultrastructural level. The sampling areas were the Jebel Al Akhdar in the north (Group A) and the Dhofar region (Group B) in the south. Specimens from each group were collected, the testes removed, fixed in Karnovsky solution, post fixed in OsO, en bloc stained with uranyl acetate and then routinely processed to Agar 100 resin, semi and ultrathin sections were prepared for study.


Sign in / Sign up

Export Citation Format

Share Document