[Epidemiological and clinical profile of cannabis users at the Addiction Care and Prevention Centre of the Laquintinie Hospital in Douala, Cameroon]. / Profil épidémiologique et clinique des consommateurs de cannabis au centre de soins d'accompagnement et de prévention en addictologie de l'Hôpital Laquintinie de Douala, Cameroun.

Cannabis is the most widely used illicit drug in the world. It is consumed by age groups, the main ones being adolescents and young adults. Its consumption leads to somatic, psychiatric and social complications. Data in our context are scarce. The purpose of our work was to describe the epidemiological and clinical profile of patients with cannabis addiction at the Centre for Care, Support and Prevention of the Laquintinie Hospital in Douala. We conducted a retrospective cross-sectional study of patients followed from March 2021 to July 2022 for cannabis addiction at the Addiction Care, Support and Prevention Center of the Laquintinie Hospital in Douala. The diagnosis of use disorder was based on a dependency syndrome related to cannabis use (single event usage). Data entry and analysis were performed using SPSS version 7.1 software. Of the 45 cases of cannabis addiction, 44 (98%) were male patients with an average age of 21,97 years. The most affected age group was between 20 and 24 years (28/44 or 63%); 49% of consumers were students, 62% of mothers accompanying patient to the consultation. The age of cannabis use initiation was 16 years (31%), the most commonly used form of cannabis was herbal (100%) and 100% of patients used inhalation (smoking). The most common complication was amotivational syndrome (31%). Cannabis use initiation occurs at an early age. The most commonly used form of cannabis is herbal administered through inhalation (smoking). The most common complications are amotivational syndrome, cognitive disorders, sleep disorders and withdrawal syndrome.

COVID-19 Preventive Behaviours in Cameroon: A Six-Month Online National Survey.

Since March 2020, the Cameroonian government implemented nationwide measures to stall COVID-19 transmission. However, little is known about how well these unprecedented measures are being observed as the pandemic evolves. We conducted a six-month online survey to assess the preventive behaviour of Cameroonian adults during the COVID-19 outbreak. A five-point adherence score was constructed based on self-reported observance of the following preventive measures: physical distancing, face mask use, hand hygiene, not touching one's face, and covering the mouth when coughing or sneezing. Predictors of adherence were investigated using ordinal logistic regression models. Of the 7381 responses received from all ten regions, 73.3% were from male respondents and overall mean age was 32.8 ± 10.8 years. Overall mean adherence score was 3.96 ± 1.11 on a scale of 0-5. Mean weekly adherence scores were initially high, but gradually decreased over time accompanied by increasing incidence of COVID-19 during the last study weeks. Predictors for higher adherence included higher age, receiving COVID-19 information from health personnel, and agreeing with the necessity of lockdown measures. Meanwhile, experiencing flu-like symptoms was associated with poor adherence. Continuous observance of preventive measures should be encouraged among Cameroonians in the medium- to long-term to avoid a resurgence in COVID-19 infections.