Causes and remedies for low research productivity among postgraduate scholars and early career researchers on non-communicable diseases in Nigeria.

OBJECTIVE: The aim of the descriptive, cross sectional, questionnaire-based study reported here was to explore the causes of low productivity in non-communicable diseases research among postgraduate scholars and early career researchers in Nigeria and identify measures that could facilitate increased research output. RESULTS: The 89 respondents were masters-level, doctoral scholars and resident doctors who attended a workshop. Majorities of the respondents (over 70%) either agreed or strongly agreed that factors contributing to poor non-communicable diseases research productivity include a dearth of in-country researchers with specialized skills, inability of Nigerian researchers to work in multidisciplinary teams, poor funding for health research, sub-optimal infrastructural facilities, and limited use of research findings by policy makers. Almost all the respondents (over 90%) agreed that potential strategies to facilitate non-communicable diseases research output would include increased funding for research, institutionalization of a sustainable, structured capacity building program for early career researchers, establishment of Regional Centers for Research Excellence, and increased use of research evidence to guide government policy actions and programs.

Clinical Epidemiology of Head Injury from Road-Traffic Trauma in a Developing Country in the Current Era.

OBJECTIVES: Africa and other Asian low middle-income countries account for the greatest burden of the global road-traffic injury (RTI)-related head injury (HI). This study set out to describe the incidence, causation, and severity of RTI-related HI and associated injuries in a Nigerian academic neurosurgical practice. METHODS: This is a retrospective cross-sectional analysis of RTI-related HI from a prospective HI registry in an academic neurosurgery practice in Nigeria. RESULTS: All-terrain RTI accounted for 80.6% (833/1,034) of HI over a 7-year study period. All age groups were involved, mean 33.06 years (SD 18.30), mode 21-30, 231/833 (27.7%). The male:female ratio was 631:202, ≈3:1. The road trauma occurred exclusively from motorcycle-and motor-vehicle crash (MCC/MVC), MCC caused 56.8% (473/833) of these; the victims were vulnerable road users (VRU) in 74%, and >90% belong in the low socioeconomic class. Using the Glasgow Coma Scale grading, the HI was moderate/severe in 52%; loss of consciousness occurred in 93%, the Abbreviated Injury Severity-head > 3 in 74%, and computed tomography (CT) Rotterdam score > 3 in 52%. Significant extracranial injuries occurred in many organ systems, 421/833 (50.5%) having Injury Severity Score (ISS) > 25. Surgical lesions included extensive brain contusions in 157 (18.8%); acute extradural hematoma in 34 (4.1%); acute subdural hematoma in 32 (3.8%); and traumatic intracerebral hemorrhage in 27 (3.2%), but only 97 (11.6%) received operative care for various logistic reasons. The in-hospital outcome was good in 71.3% and poor in 28.7%; the statistically significant (p < 0.001) determinants of this outcome profile were the severity of the HI, the CT Rotterdam score, and the ISS. CONCLUSION: In this study from Nigeria, RTI-related HI emanates from significant trauma to vulnerable road users and are caused exclusively by motorcycles and motor vehicles.