Socio-demographic correlates of sexual behaviours: a cross sectional survey of adolescents in Imo State secondary schools.

The study was designed to determine the socio-demographic correlates of sexual behaviours of the adolescents in Imo State secondary schools. Three objectives and three hypotheses were formulated to guide the study. A cross sectional survey design was used and sample size was 3360 (2.2%) adolescents. A structured, validated and reliable questionnaire (r = 0.79) and focus group discussion were used as the instruments for data collection. Data analysis was done using mean and ANOVA statistics. The result generally, showed that the average sexual behaviours of the adolescents were below the decision mean of 2.50 and as such the adolescents were said to be sexually inactive. In Imo State secondary schools, various family sizes did not significantly influence the sexual behaviours of the adolescents (F-cal. 2.39, F-tab. 3.00 & P > 0.05), family structure significantly influenced their sexual behaviours (F-cal. 17.78, F-tab. 3.00 & P < 0.05) and different financial strengths influenced the adolescents sexual behaviours significantly (F-cal. 22.88, F-tab. 2.37 & P < 0.05. Of great worry is that unrestricted/uncontrolled adolescents sexual behaviours may expose them to sexually transmitted infections/HIV/AIDS, unwanted pregnancies, illegal abortion and dropping out of school. Thus comprehensive sex education was recommended.

Perceptions on the use of insecticide treated nets in parts of the Imo River Basin, Nigeria: implications for preventing malaria in pregnancy.

This study aimed at assessing perceptions on use of ITNs in parts of the Imo River Basin, Nigeria and its implications in preventing malaria in pregnancy. Data was collected using focus group discussions, key informant interviews and structured questionnaires. Results showed high awareness on the benefits of ITNs. Factors affecting use of ITNs included its high cost, perceptions of chemicals used to treat them as having dangerous effects on pregnancy, low utilization of antenatal care, husband's lack of interest in malaria prevention and perceptions that adolescent girls are at low risk of getting malaria. The implications of these findings include demystifying the negative perceptions on the chemicals used for net treatment and subsidizing the cost of ITNs to increase access. These findings provide important lessons for malaria programmes that aim at increasing access to ITNs by pregnant women in developing countries.

The knowledge, attitude and practices of food handlers in food sanitation in a metropolis in south eastern Nigeria.

The spread of diseases through food is still a common problem which results in appreciable morbidity and occasional mortality. Food handlers play an important role in ensuring food safety throughout the chain of production, processing, storage and preparation. This study was designed to determine knowledge, attitude and practice of food handlers towards food-borne diseases and food safety. A total of 430 food handlers were randomly selected from Owerri Metropolis of Imo State Nigeria and interviewed using structured pretested questionnaire. Almost half (48.4%) of the respondents had poor knowledge of food sanitation. Multiple logistic regression showed type of premise [Odd Ratio (OR) = 4.0, 95% confidence interval (CI) = 1.8 - 7.5, P = 0.0004], educational level (OR = 0.4, 95% CI = 1.8 -7.4, P = 0.0003) and job status of food handlers (OR = 0.5, 95%, CI = 0.3 - 0.8, P = 0.0031) significantly influenced the score level of knowledge. There was no significant difference in attitude and practice between trained and untrained food handlers. Findings of this study may be important in planning health education intervention programs for food handlers in order to improve their knowledge, attitude and practice towards food borne diseases and food safety. This will help in reducing morbidity and mortality due to food-borne diseases.