The Baseline Self-Efficacy Scores to Manage Chronic Diseases Amongst Nigerian Patients with Non-Communicable Diseases are Sub-Optimal.

Nigeria is one of the developing countries with a major burden of non-communicable diseases (NCDs) without a disease self-management program in its healthcare system. Thus, this study was aimed to assess the baseline self-efficacy levels of Nigerian patients with chronic NCDs at tertiary level hospitals. This is a cross sectional study of 286 NCD patients attending tertiary level clinics from 26 July to 27 October 2023. Patients were interviewed on a 10 Self-Efficacy to Manage Chronic Disease (SEMCD) item scales that were considered suitable for the Nigerian population. The 10 SEMCD questions covered: (i) Exercise regularly scale, (ii) Help from community, family and friends scale, (iii) Communication with Physician scale, (iv) Manage disease scale and (v) Manage symptom self-efficacy domains. Data were analyzed both descriptively and statistically using Student's t-tests and Chi-square tests as appropriate. The results showed that more female (59.4%) than males (40.6%) attended clinics during the study, and the mean age of the patients did not differ between gender (P > .05). About 40% of all the patients manage their NCDs with medications alone, a trend that is similar in male and female patients (P > .05). While all the patients had a relatively lower self-efficacy scores under regular exercise scale (52%-55%) and manage disease symptoms scale (53%-55%), they tended toward higher self-efficacy scores under getting assistance from community, family, and friends (79%-80%) and communication with attending physicians (81%-85%). It is concluded that Nigeria literate NCD patients registered at tertiary level institution routine clinics are less than optimal in disease self-management care. We recommend that this study population will benefit from introduction and implementation of disease self-management program in the healthcare system.

Advancement of telemedicine in Africa and the current laws: A case study of Nigeria.

Advancements in technology have heralded more than a few cutting-edge benefits. Medicine is a vital sector of every nation and it has benefitted from these advancements in delivering health care services at a distance. The increasing use of Information and Communication Technology (ICT) by a vast population worldwide has been pivotal for telemedicine in recent years. Many developed and developing countries of the world have embraced telemedicine as a proactive means of delivering health care services to their citizens, although at different rates of development. The challenges associated with health care service and delivery is numerous and telemedicine has become one solution to counter some of these challenges. This paper seeks to examine the state of telemedicine in Nigeria. It identifies the gaps that ought to be filled in the Nigerian legal system and proposes relevant policies and legislation that must be formulated by government alongside appropriate authorities in order to ensure an optimum telemedicine system that meets the standards of conventional medicine.

Hodgkin's lymphoma of the breast.

Hodgkin's lymphoma of the breast is very rare. We report a case of Hodgkin's lymphoma of the breast in a 61 year old post-menopausal female who presented with a 3 month history of left breast painless lump. Excision biopsy was done and histology showed nodular sclerotic Hodgkin's lymphoma confirmed by immunohistochemical staining.

Serum lipid profile of newly diagnosed hypertensive patients in nnewi, South-East Nigeria.

Abnormalities in serum lipid and lipoprotein levels are recognized major modifiable cardiovascular disease and essential hypertension risk factors. The objective of this study was to examine the serum lipid patterns of newly diagnosed hypertensive patients attending a tertiary healthcare centre in South East Nigeria. Methods. Two hundred and fifty newly diagnosed adult hypertensive patients and an equal number of age- and sex-matched controls without hypertension were consecutively recruited from the Medical and General Outpatient Clinics of Nnamdi Azikiwe University Teaching Hospital, Nnewi. Result. 126 males and 124 females were in each of the two groups. Mean age was comparable in both groups. Hypertensives had significantly higher mean systolic blood pressure, diastolic blood pressure, body mass index, waist circumference, waist-hip ratio, and fasting blood sugar than the controls. The mean TC, TG, and LDL-C were significantly higher among the hypertensives. The mean HDL-C was comparable; P = 0.8. Among the hypertensive subjects, there was statistically significant positive correlation between BMI and TC; LDL-C and TG; WC and TG; FBS and TC; LDL-C and TG. HDL-C showed a statistically significant inverse correlation with WHR in hypertensives. Conclusion. This study showed that lipid abnormalities are highly prevalent among newly diagnosed hypertensives in South-East Nigeria.

Evaluation of blood pressure and indices of obesity in a typical rural community in eastern Nigeria.

AIM: With increasing urbanization of lifestyle, cardiovascular morbidity and mortality have been on the increase in Africans. Studies on cardiovascular risk factors in rural communities in South East Nigeria are scarce. This study focused on hypertension and obesity in adult Nigerians dwelling in a rural setting in Eastern Nigeria. MATERIALS AND METHODS: A total of 218 participants from the rural community were recruited into the study. A questionnaire was used to assess prior knowledge of their weight and blood pressure status as well as drug history for those found to have hypertension. Each participant's blood pressure was measured and any value ≥140/90 mmHg was regarded as high blood pressure (HBP). Their heights and weights were measured and their body mass indices (BMI) calculated using the standard formula of BMI = Weight in Kg/Height in m 2 ; BMI ≥30 Kg/m 2 was referred to as global obesity. Their waist circumferences (WC) were also measured and any value ≥102 cm for males and ≥88 cm for females was regarded as abdominal obesity. RESULTS: The general prevalence of HBP in the rural community was 44.5%. The prevalence of HBP increased as age increased and awareness about HBP was low (15.2%). Females were more aware than the males. The prevalence of HBP was higher in males (49.3%) compared with their female counterparts (42.3%), whereas the females had a higher prevalence of all forms of obesity (abdominal: 36.2%, global: 14.8%) compared with the males (abdominal: 14.5%, global: 10.1%). Higher BMI was associated with higher systolic and diastolic BP values. Hypertensive participants had higher BMI and WC than those who had normal BP. CONCLUSION: The prevalence of both hypertension and obesity seems to be increasing in rural communities in Nigeria and thus, the available prevalence documented in previous studies for rural communities may no longer represent the current trend. Awareness of the participants about these major cardiovascular risk factors is still very low. Higher BMI was associated with higher values of both systolic and diastolic BP.