Intimate Partner Violence and Associated Coping Strategies among Women in a Primary Care Clinic in Port Harcourt, Nigeria.

CONTEXT: Intimate partner violence (IPV) is an important gender-based, social, and public health problem, affecting women globally. AIMS: The aim was to report the prevalence of IPV and describe the coping strategies of the victims. SETTINGS AND DESIGN: It was conducted in the general outpatient clinic of a tertiary care hospital using a cross-sectional design. MATERIALS AND METHODS: A random sample of consenting women living in an intimate partnership for a minimum of 1 year were served with a three part structured questionnaire which sought information on sociodemographic characteristics, the experience of IPV and the Brief COPE Inventory. STATISTICAL ANALYSIS USED: SPSS version 17.0 software, Microsoft word and Excel were used in data handling and analysis. Means, percentages, standard deviations, and Chi-square were calculated. P < 0.05 was considered to be significant. RESULTS: Of the 384 participants, 161 (41.9%) were physically abused. IPV was significantly common among women ≤40 years of age, married couples (78.5%), unemployed and in Christians. It was precipitated by argument with husband (19.25%) and financial demands (44.10%). The employed coping strategy with the highest score was religion. The least score was found in substance abuse. CONCLUSION: There was significantly high prevalence of domestic violence against women in this study. Hence, routine screening is advocated by family physicians to elicit abuse in order to avoid the more devastating psychological consequences after the incidence so as to institute appropriate treatment as multiple episodes of abuse appears to be cumulative in effect. The reason for violence mainly borders around the argument with husband and finance issues. The coping strategies utilized by the participants minimally involve substance abuse, but more of a religion.

The association between giant hydrocele and depression in a rural clinic in Nigeria.

One of the dreaded disfiguring disease conditions among the Andoni tribesmen in the Nigerian Niger delta region is hydrocele, especially when its size is large (giant hydrocele) and it cannot be concealed. This case-control study was designed to evaluate the prevalence of depression among patients with giant hydrocele presenting to Bethesda Clinic Ngo, Andoni, Nigeria. A total of 52 patients were recruited into this study: 26 in the giant hydrocele group and 26 in the control group. Their age range was 23 to 78 years, with a mean age of 53.4 ± 15.5 years for the giant hydrocele group and 53.6 ± 14.2 years for the control group. The difference between the prevalence of depression among patients that presented with giant hydrocele (61.54%) and the controls (15.38%) was statistically significant (p = .0015). The authors conclude that depression is common among patients with giant hydrocele when compared with patients with other disease conditions.

Fever of unknown origin in an infant with an unexpected blood film report: a case report.

INTRODUCTION: Fever of unknown origin (FUO) can be defined as a rectal temperature higher than 38.3 degrees C on several occasions over more than 3 weeks, the diagnosis of which remains uncertain after initial investigations. Identification of the causes and management of FUO in children is an important role of rural primary care physicians, and is guided by thorough history-taking and repeated physical examinations combined with standard laboratory tests and simple imaging procedures. This can be difficult in rural practice due to poor availability and reliability of laboratory and imaging procedures, and the cost and misuse of antibiotics. Dependence on clinical and laboratory examinations may fail in diseases presenting in non-endemic areas. Trypanosomiasis is a known cause of fever; however, it is an unusual cause of FUO considering the place of residence of this patient. CASE REPORT: This report describes a case of trypanosomiasis presenting as FUO. The patient was a one-year-old Nigerian female who had been managed for malaria and bronchopneumonia for 2 weeks in a private clinic and was finally referred for further management to Eku Baptist Hospital, a rural mission hospital in the Niger Delta of Nigeria. Results of her laboratory tests showed nothing of significance apart from anaemia and trypanosomes discovered unexpectedly in the blood film. This was confirmed after a cervical lymph node biopsy and microscopic examination of the glandular fluid. Treatment with eflornithine was effective. CONCLUSION: The diagnosis of trypanosomiasis in this patient highlights that when a patient is not obviously exposed to the causative factors of a disease, possible occurrences may present a diagnostic problem.

Domestic violence against men in primary care in Nigeria.

Domestic violence against men is rare in Nigeria. This study was aimed at assessing the prevalence of domestic violence against men, the sociodemographic characteristics of victims, and the pattern of injury sustained in a primary care setting. This was a retrospective study over a period of 5 years in which all the medical records of patients were retrieved and information on domestic violence extracted from them and transferred to a data sheet. Those whose records were grossly deficient were excluded from the study. A total of 220,000 patients were seen of which 48 (22 per 100,000) were victims of domestic violence. There were only five married male victims with a prevalence of 0.0023%. The injuries observed were scratches, bruises, welts, and scalds. The primary care physician needs a high index of suspicion to be able to detect it.

Penile fracture following husband abuse: a case report.

The case of a 35-year-old fisherman who presented in a rural clinic with a sudden onset of painful penile swelling affecting the left lateral side with associated rapid detumescence is reported. He had tried to coerce his wife to a sexual intercourse when she forcefully bent his penis. He was initially managed with cold applications, oral diclofenac potassium, chymoral, and splinting of the penis and then referred to the urological services of a teaching hospital. He defaulted only to re-present about 2 weeks later with some improvement in his symptoms. Further advice to see the urologist was also rebuffed on financial grounds. When he reported about 1 month later, he was assessed to have grade 3 erectile dysfunction. In conclusion, penile fracture is a rare condition which follows unphysiological bending of the tumescent penis during sexual intercourse or masturbation. That following husband abuse is rarer. The sequelae can be devastating.