Savannah Journal of Medical Research and Practice

Editorial Comment

K.A. Durowde — 2024-04-03

No abstract

Rising challenges of head and neck cancer in Nigeria: The burden, trends, issues and prospects

S.O, Ayodele — 2024-04-03

Head and neck cancers exert a rising toll on healthcare in developing countries, Nigeria inclusive. The population has been growing in geometric progression, so is the number of people living with head and neck cancers in the country, yet few efforts have been targeted at improving existing resources and manpower dedicated to providing quality care for head and neck cancer patients. This review presents up-to-date assessment of the burden of head and neck cancers and challenges of managing patients with the disease in Nigeria, based on current literature and published peer reviewed studies in Medline, Embase, PubMed, and Cochrane Database of systematic reviews for articles in English language.

Socio-demographic correlates of knowledge, perceived risk and uptake of HIV testing among Nurses in Osogbo, South-western Nigeria.

S. Olarewaju — 2024-04-03

Introduction: Human Immunodeficiency Virus (HIV)testing is a crucial step in the prevention and control of HIV. Nurses, as primary healthcare providers, play a vital role in promoting HIV testing service and providing accurate information to patients. This study assessed the sociodemographic correlates of HIV knowledge, perceived risk and uptake of HIV testing among nurses in Osogbo.
Methods: This was a cross-sectional study design using multistage sampling method for selection of 220 nurses from both private and public health facilities in Osogbo. Data was collected using a semi-structured self-administered questionnaire and IBM SPSS version 23 was used for data analysis.
Results: The knowledge of HIV/AIDs was good among the respondents (74.4%), 63.6% of the respondents had perceived high-risk of contracting HIV while 89.3% had uptake HIV testing service. Statistical significance was found with nurses in private hospitals who were more knowledgeable on HIV/AIDs than those who work in a public hospital (x2= 4.136, P= 0.042), none of the socio-demographic characteristics was statistically associated with perceived high-risk of the disease.
Conclusion: The study found that a significant number of respondents had poor knowledge on HIV/AIDS despite being health workers, there was a gap in their perceived risk and a satisfactory
uptake of HIV testing. However, the socio-demographic characteristics that had a statistical relationship with HIV knowledge and uptake of HIV test were facility category and gender

Covid-19 vaccination satisfaction among the inhabitants of Niger State, North Central, Nigeria

I.M. Sheshi — 2024-04-03

Introduction: With the rapidly spreading COVID-19 infection around the world in 2020, international alliance and governments mobilized resources to produce multiple vaccine within the shortest period and it was discovered to be the single most effective agent to contain the virus.
Objectives: This study aimed to determine the satisfaction of participants with the Covid-19 vaccination exercise carried out in Niger State.
Methods: This study was a cross-sectional descriptive design in which the respondents were randomly selected from the selected vaccination cluster(site). Exit interview was conducted among 388 respondents with pre-tested semi-structured questionnaire. SPSS version 27 and AMOS software were used to carry out the analysis.
Results: Overall level of satisfaction was found to be 53.6%. The reliability coefficient was Cronbach alpha 0.882. SEM revealed that all the dimensions studied influence level of satisfaction (p=0.000).There was significant associations between age and occupation with level of satisfaction (p<0.05). Multi variate binary logistic regression did not reveal any significant predictor of satisfaction among the socio demographic variables (p>0.05).
Conclusion: The marginal increase level of satisfaction underscores the need to resolve the variables the clients were dissatisfied with. The health workers carrying the immunization process should be retrained on the needs of the clients.

Accessibility andutilization of maternal and child health services among mothers in rural and urban communities of Oyo State

R. O. Ige — 2024-04-03

Background: Utilization of maternal and child health services has been linked to the characteristics of the health delivery system like the geographical and economic accessibility (cost) of these services. Low utilization of these services has been implicated in the explanation of high maternal and child mortality worldwide. Early and prompt utilization of maternal and child health care services would have averted most of these deaths. This study assessed the accessibility and utilization of maternal and child health services among mothers in rural and urban communities of Oyo state.
Methods: This is a comparative cross-sectional study using a mixed method (quantitative and qualitative) of data collection. A pre-tested interviewer-administered questionnaire was used to collect data from 300 respondents that were recruited using a multistage sampling technique. The qualitative data was obtained through focus group discussions (FGD) with four groups selected using purposive sampling. Data was analyzed using IBM SPSS version 22 at 95% significance level with a p<0.05.
Results: This study showed that significant differences existed between the respondents' utilization of maternal and child health services among women of child bearing age in the rural and urban communities (p= 0.013). Few respondents in rural communities (72, 48.0%) have good utilization of maternal and child health services compared to the urban communities where more respondents (119,79.3%) have good utilization of maternal and child health services. Proximity of health facility and affordability of maternal and child health service were found to be statistically significant for respondents in the rural community. This finding is also similar to the FGD findings from the rural discussants.
Conclusion: Overall good accessibility and good utilization of maternal and child health services were found to be more for respondents in the urban areas compared their counterparts in the rural communities. It is important for the government to initiate policies on health insurance to favour maternal and child health services especially in the rural communities.