Impact of social support on participation after stroke in Nigeria.

BACKGROUND: Participation which entails involvement in life situations and represents a higher level of functioning can be severely restricted after a stroke. This study investigated the impact of social support on participation of stroke survivors in Nigeria. METHODS: Ninety-six community-residing stroke survivors were recruited from physiotherapy outpatient departments of two tertiary care hospitals in Northern Nigeria. Socio-demographic, clinical, participation (London Handicap Scale), and social support (Multidimensional Scale of Perceived Social Support) data were obtained. The impact of social support on global and domain-specific participation was examined using bivariate analyses and multiple regression analyses. RESULTS: Mean (SD) age of the stroke survivors was 56.6 (12.0) years. Social support was a significant (ß = 0.41, p < 0.0001) and independent determinant of the economic self-sufficiency domain of participation (p < 0.0001) in a regression model that accounted for 27% of the variance in the domain (R(2) = 0.27). Social support, however, had no independent effect on overall participation and the other participation domains namely mobility, physical independence, occupation, social integration, and orientation. CONCLUSION: The impact of social support was significant only in the economic self-sufficiency domain of participation with higher availability of social support related to better economic self-sufficiency. This finding provides additional information on the importance of social support post-stroke.

Prevalence of Low Back Pain among Undergraduate Physiotherapy Students in Nigeria.

Background. Low back pain (LBP) is a major cause of disability and the most common work-related musculoskeletal disorder among physiotherapists. This study examined the prevalence of low back pain among students undergoing training to become physiotherapists. Methods. Participants were 207 undergraduate clinical physiotherapy students at three universities in Nigeria. A modified version of a questionnaire used in a previous study was utilized to obtain demographic, educational activities, and LBP data. Prevalence of LBP was examined with descriptive statistics while factors associated with prevalence were explored using chi-square statistics. Results. More male students (53.1%) and those in the penultimate year of study (53.1%) participated in the study. Lifetime, 12-month, 1-month, and 7-day prevalence of LBP were 45.5%, 32.5%, 17.7%, and 11.5%, respectively. Prevalence of LBP was not significantly associated with any of the demographic variables. Educational activities, namely, "having techniques practiced on self for ≤10 hours" and "treating patients for ≥30 hours," a month prior to the study were significantly (P < 0.05) associated with higher 1-month and 7-day LBP prevalence, respectively. Conclusions. Although the prevalence of LBP was comparatively low, its association with educational activities emphasizes the need to incorporate effective LBP preventive strategies in the training of physiotherapy students.