Nutritional status of school age children in Abakaliki metropolis, Ebonyi State, Nigeria.

BACKGROUND: Malnutrition is a major public health problem with short and long-term adverse effects on children particularly in middle and low-income countries. Three out of every ten under-five children are said to be stunted and 19.4% underweight in Nigeria. In Ebonyi State, between 2013 and 2015, the proportion of preschool children with chronic undernutrition rose from 16.2 to 20.6%. Little is documented about the nutritional status of school-age children in Ebonyi State and Nigeria. METHODS: We conducted a descriptive cross-sectional study among 780 children aged 6 to 12 years from 10 primary schools in Abakaliki metropolis. A multistage sampling method was used to select the participants. A pre-tested interviewer-administered structured questionnaire was used to collect information from the children and their parents. Body Mass Index (BMI), Z scores of the weight for age, BMI for age and height for age were obtained using the WHO AnthroPlus software. We estimated the prevalence of undernutrition, over-nutrition, underweight, thinness, stunting, overweight and obesity. RESULT: Out of 751 pupils that participated, 397 (52.9%) were females and 595 (79.2%) were in public schools. The overall prevalence of undernutrition was 15.7% and that of over-nutrition was 2.1%. The prevalence of underweight, thinness and stunting, overweight and obesity were 8, 7.2, 9.9, 1.4 and 0.7% respectively. The proportion of pupils who were thin was higher among males (8.7%), those attending public schools (8.6%) and those dwelling in rural parts of the metropolis (14.3%) compared to females (5.8%) private school attendees (1.9%) and urban dwellers (4.6%). Stunting was found to be higher among pupils attending public schools (11.8%) compared to those attending private schools (2.5%). The prevalence of stunting was 19.3% among the pupils residing in rural areas and 5% among the pupils living in urban areas of the metropolis. No pupil in private schools was underweight. Over-nutrition was not found among the pupils in rural areas. CONCLUSION: Both under and over nutrition exist in Abakaliki metropolis. Undernutrition is the more prevalent form of malnutrition among school age children in the metropolis.

End--users' perception of quality of care of children attending children's outpatients clinics of University of Nigeria Teaching Hospital Ituku--Ozalla Enugu.

BACKGROUND: Knowledge of the specific details of end-users actual experiences with health system helps to identify areas for improvement in ways that standardized satisfaction measures are less able to provide in order to save lives, uphold public confidence and trust in healthcare delivery. The aim of the study was to assess the end-users' perception of the quality of clinical services rendered to children attending paediatric out-patient clinics of University of Nigeria Teaching Hospital, Ituku - Ozalla, Enugu. METHODS: A cross sectional descriptive study was undertaken using exit point interviewer administered pre-tested/semi-structured questionnaire.Assessment of perception of quality of care was undertaken in three service areas; waiting time, attitude of staff and comfort of the waiting hall. Data was analyzed using SPSS 16.0 and presented as percentages. Chi-square was used to compare means (p < 0.05). RESULTS: A total of 367 respondents were interviewed. Over 50% of them were generally satisfied with overall quality of care. 329 (89.6%) were very satisfied with quality of doctors' services, while the least satisfaction was with the quality of medical records services 139 (37.9%). Majority of the respondents 197 (53.7%) spent between 3-6 hours for each clinic visit and most of the waiting time spent was in the medical records and consultation. CONCLUSION: The care--givers perception of the general quality of care was adjudged high. However, overall waiting time was perceived to be unsatisfactory.Efforts should be made to reduce the time spent by clients while accessing care in the facility.

Prevalence and correlates of microalbuminuria in children with sickle cell anaemia: experience in a tertiary health facility in enugu, Nigeria.

Microalbuminuria is a pre-clinical marker of renal damage in children with sickle cell anaemia and can predict renal failure. Reported prevalence rates increased with age. In Nigeria, burden of disease and prevailing poor health facilities necessitate its screening, determination of prevalence and associated risk factors. It is a cross-sectional as well as descriptive study. Screening microalbuminuria used subjects' early morning urine. Socio-demographic as well as clinical details were ascertained using semi-structured questionnaires and case files. Associations and statistical relationship of prevalence rates and clinical/epidemiological data were ascertained using chi-squared and multivariate analysis (P < 0.05). Two hundred children with sickle cell anaemia (4-17 years) in steady state and 200 age/gender-matched controls were enrolled. Prevalence of microalbuminuria was ,respectively, 18.5% and 2.5% for subjects and controls (P = 0.001). Microalbuminuria was commoner in females (19.8%) than males (17.4%) P = 0.70, increased with age (P = 0.016), significantly associated with haemoglobin level (P = 0.002) and hospitalizations (0.001). Subjects had normal renal function. Hospitalizations and haemoglobin levels showed statistical significance on multivariate analysis. Prevalence of microalbuminuria is 18.5%. Age, haemoglobin concentrations, and higher hospitalizations influenced microalbuminuria among subjects. Screening for microalbuminuria should be incorporated in the case management of subjects with identified risk factors.