Prevalence and Pattern of Alcoholic Beverage Consumption among Undergraduates in Remo, Ogun State, Southwest, Nigeria.

BACKGROUND: Alcoholic beverages come in various shades and flavours, often intensely advertised to the youthful population on various media channels within the state. Excessive intake is known to have deleterious effects on several dimensions of health. This study therefore assessed the prevalence and pattern of alcoholic beverage consumption among undergraduates in Remo division of Ogun State, Nigeria. METHODS: A cross-sectional study was carried out among 420 students attending three tertiary institutions in Remo area, Ogun State, selected via multi-stage sampling. Data were collected using a validated self-administered, semi-structured questionnaire and analyzed with SPSS 20.0. Relevant descriptive and inferential statistics were calculated (p<0.05). RESULTS: The mean age of respondents was 20.12±3.2 years, with 219 (54.3%) being female. Only 14 (3.5%) respondents believed alcoholic beverage consumption was good. One hundred and forty-two (35.2%) participants consumed alcoholic beverages. Of these, 58 (40.8%) engaged in binge drinking; 28 (19.7%) drank daily; 101 (70.9%) consumed wines and related drinks. One hundred and twenty (84.5%) of these respondents had difficulty controlling their intake; 25 (17.6%) got drunk; 16 (11.3%) got into fights; 35 (24.6%) skipped meals after drinking; 39 (27.5%) experienced some difficulty with memory; 52 (36.6%) had parents who consumed alcoholic beverages regularly. Alcohol consumption was significantly associated with: age; parents' occupation; living arrangement and religion. CONCLUSION: Alcoholic beverage consumption was slightly high, with majority of these respondents drinking at a moderate level. Targeted behaviour change communication and counseling services will be most beneficial to address this emerging public health concern.

CONTEXTE: Les boissons alcoolisées se présentent sous diverses formes et saveurs, et font souvent l'objet d'une publicité intense auprès des jeunes sur les jeunes sur divers médias de l'État. On sait qu'une consommation excessive a des effets délétères sur plusieurs dimensions de la santé. Cette étude a donc évalué la prévalence et les habitudes de consommation de boissons alcoolisées parmi les étudiants de premier cycle de la division Remo de l'État d'Ogun, Nigeria. MÉTHODES: Une étude transversale a été réalisée parmi 420 étudiants fréquentant trois institutions tertiaires dans la région de Remo, dans l'État d'Ogun, sélectionnés via un échantillonnage à plusieurs degrés. Les données ont été collectées à l'aide d'un questionnaire validé auto-administré, questionnaire semi-structuré validé et analysées avec SPSS 20.0. Les statistiques descriptives et inférentielles pertinentes ont été calculées (p<0,05). RÉSULTATS: L'âge moyen des répondants était de 20,12±3,2 ans, 219 (54,3 %) étaient des femmes. Seuls 14 répondants (3,5 %) pensaient que la consommation de boissons d'alcool était bonne. Cent quarantedeux (35,2 %) participants ont consommé des boissons alcoolisées. Parmi eux, 58 (40,8 %). s'adonnaient à la consommation excessive d'alcool ; 28 (19,7 %) buvaient quotidiennement ; 101 (70,9 %), ont consommé des vins et des boissons apparentées. Cent vingt (84,5 %) de ces répondants ont eu des difficultés à contrôler leur consommation ; 25 (17,6 %) se sont enivrés ; 16 (11,3 %) se sont bagarrés ; 35 (24,6 %) ont sauté des repas après avoir bu ; 39 (27,5 %) ont éprouvé des difficultés de mémoire ; 52 (36,6 %) avaient des parents qui consommaient régulièrement des boissons alcoolisées. La consommation d'alcool est significativement associée à l'âge, à la profession des parents, au mode de vie et à la religion. CONCLUSION: La consommation de boissons alcoolisées était légèrement élevée avec la majorité de ces répondants consommant à un niveau modéré. Des services de communication et de conseil ciblés sur les changements de comportement seront les plus bénéfiques pour répondre à ce nouveau problème de santé publique. MOTS CLÉS: Alcool, Prévalence, Étudiants de premier cycle, Boissons, Sud-ouest.

A Cross-sectional Survey of the Willingness of Tertiary Hospital Staff to Donate Blood in Sagamu, Nigeria

Background: Available donor blood rarely meets the demand in sub-Saharan Africa due to obstacles to blood donation. Willingness to donate blood is adjudged an important step to the actual practice of donating blood.Objective: To assess the willingness of the members of staff of the hospital to donate blood and determine factors affecting their willingness or otherwise.Methods: This was a descriptive cross-sectional study. A proportional allocation of participants was carried out at the various departments in the hospital using self-administered questionnaire. Results: Overall, 183 (73%) of the 246 respondents expressed willingness to donate blood, 111(45%) of whom have been asked to donate blood in the past. Only 91(37%) had donated blood in the past. Significantly higher proportion of health staff showed the willingness to donate blood generally and voluntarily compared to non-health staff. Significantly higher proportion of respondents with tertiary education showed the willingness to donate blood. Two hundred and eighteen (88.8%) were willing to donate blood to help the patient in need while fear of exposure to HIV infection, needle prick and dizziness constituted the major factors discouraging blood donation (19.9%, 18.7% and 18.3% respectively.Conclusion: Willingness to donate blood was mostly based on the primordial motivation of helping the patient in need which does not translate to blood donation. There is a need to improve awareness and advocacy on blood donation among hospital staff and the general population

Characteristics of clients accessing HIV counseling and testing services in a tertiary hospital in Sagamu, Southwestern Nigeria.

INTRODUCTION: Client-initiated HIV testing and counseling has helped millions of people learn their HIV status. Nevertheless, global coverage of HIV testing and counseling programs remains low. This study describes the characteristics of clients who accessed HIV counseling and testing (HCT) services in Olabisi Onabanjo University Teaching Hospital, (OOUTH) Sagamu. MATERIALS AND METHODS: A retrospective study of the clients accessing HCT services in OOUTH. Data was collected from clients using a client intake form. Pre-test counseling, HIV screening and post-test counseling were carried out. Informed consent and confidentiality were ensured. Data obtained were analyzed using SPSS 10.0. RESULTS: A total of 2607 clients accessed our HCT services between May 1 st 2008 and April 30 th 2010. The clients were between the ages of 1 year and 90 years. The mean age was 33.3 ± 15.26. The median age was found to be 32.0 years, with the modal age being 30.0 years. 73.7% (1828) were non-reactive (negative result), 25.9% (643) were reactive (positive result), while 0.3% (8) were indeterminate. Among the reactive results, 9.3% (242) were males while 15.1% (394) were females. CONCLUSION: A fair uptake of HCT services was noted. More females accessed services than males. More positive results were seen among females than males (P<0.05). RECOMMENDATIONS: Upscale of HCT services to involve Sexually transmitted infections clinics and free-standing, client-initiated testing centers is necessary. Continuous AIDS education and risk reduction should be promoted.

Sexual behaviour, contraception and fertility among in-school adolescents in Ikenne Local Government, south-western Nigeria.

A cross- sectional study was conducted among in-school adolescents in six secondary schools in the health districts of Ikenne Local Government to assess the sexual behaviour, contraception and fertility experiences of the adolescents between the months of May and November 2002.Relevant information was collected from 1140 in-school adolescents with the aid of pre-tested, structured, self-administered questionnaires, selected by using multistage and stratified random sampling techniques Information sought from the questionnaires included socio-demographic characteristics of the respondents, parental background, their sexual behaviour, knowledge and use of contraception, human development, pregnancy and fertility experiences, information on sexually transmitted infections (STIs) and HIV/AIDS. During the same period, twelve (12) Focus Group Discussions (FGDs) sessions were conducted using an FGD Guide in the selected schools to highlight differences in opinions of students and also to highlight identification of the group consensus. The mean ages at first intercourse were 13.9 +/- 2.8 years and 14.8 +/- 2.4years for males and females respectively. Boys initiated sex earlier than girls. This difference was found to be statistically significant (p<0.05). Sexual intercourse had been experienced by 28.5% of the adolescent students, significantly more (37.6%) males than females (20.4%) The school adolescents that responded as being married were.4.5% (26males, 23 females) of the respondents. Knowledge on contraception was 36.9% and 22.1% for male and female students respectively, more males than females had knowledge of contraception in a significant proportion, apparently due to increase awareness of the male condom among males. Current use of contraception was equally low, and was found to be 10.9% and 6.0% for males and females respectively. The reasons for non-use were mainly that of non-availability (22.3%), cost (11.8%) negative attitude towards contraception due to societal disapproval (33.2%) and lack of knowledge of how to use them (21.3%). The proportion of adolescents that had ever experienced symptoms associated with Sexually Transmitted Infections (STIs) was 26.8%. Multiple factors were found to be responsible for the deplorable reproductive health situation of the adolescents in this community. The need for provision of sexuality and life planning education in schools including the provision of Youth friendly health services in the community were highlighted.