Maternal serum lipid in women with preeclampsia in Lagos: a case control study.

Objective: This was to determine the serum lipid profile of preeclamptic women and their association with severity of preeclampsia.Methods: This was a case control study conducted at the Lagos University Teaching Hospital, Lagos, Nigeria. Blood samples for serum lipid estimation were collected after an overnight fast. The National Cholesterol Education Program - Adult Treatment Panel (ATP) III criteria were used to define dyslipidemia.Results: Two hundred forty women participated in the study. The mean total cholesterol of preeclamptic and normotensive women was 309.9 ± 10.4 mg/dl and 237 ± 6.8 mg/dl, respectively. Both groups of women had higher than normal mean levels of triglycerides (TG) (203.3 ± 11.0 mg/dl versus 157.5 ± 7.1 mg/dl); low-density lipoprotein (LDL)-c (156.5 ± 11.0 mg/dl versus 109.7 ± 6.9 mg/dl); high-density lipoprotein (HDL)-c (63.2 ± 2.5 mg/dl versus 55.4 ± 1.8 mg/dl) and very low-density lipoprotein (VLDL) (39.5 ± 2.0 mg/dl versus 31.5 ± 1.4 mg/dl). Fewer women with preeclampsia had isolated hypertriglyceridemia (95 versus 99%). Maternal serum total cholesterol (TC), TG, and LDL was significantly (p < .001) higher in severe, compared to mild preeclampsia. Pearson's correlation indicated that all lipids, including total cholesterol (r = 0.406) had positive correlation with preeclampsia.Conclusion: There is elevated serum lipid in pregnancy irrespective of preeclampsia developing. The positive correlation of maternal serum lipids to preeclampsia suggests a casual relationship.

Substance use and sexual behaviour among female students in Nigerian universities.

Substance use continues to constitute social and health problems, more so among adolescents and young adults. One consequence is risky sexual behavior, a major problem in sub-Saharan Africa already facing the synergistic problems of poverty and HIV/AIDS. This study of female students aged ≥ 18 years in two universities in Nigeria uses a multi-stage stratified random sampling method, and each subject that gave consent to the study was administered with a structured questionnaire by trained interviewers; 2,408 female students were studied (1,854 from the University of Ibadan and 554 from the Bayero University, Kano). The mean age of the respondents was 21.6 (SD = 2.9), and about two-thirds (65.7%) were aged between 20-24, with 2,204 (91.5%) being single and 4.3% married. In all, 23.4% of the subjects used one form of substance. Alcoholic drinks of palm wine, alcoholic wine, and beer were the most common of substances used (22.7%), followed by tobacco (2%) and cannabis (1%). Substance use was significantly associated with religious affiliation of the students (p < 0.001), as the prevalence of substance use was least among Muslim students (11.7%) and highest among those who professed traditional religion (39.4%). Alcohol use was also positively associated with sexual activity (p < 0.001). Among the 547 students who used alcohol, 147 (26.9%) had sex in the 4 weeks prior to the survey, while among the 1,861 non-users, only 8.9% did so. The practice of unprotected sex was found not to be associated with substance use: a slightly lower proportion (29.5% vs. 36.6%) of substance users engaged in unprotected sex in their last encounter compared to non-users. There is need to scale up public health education on the dangers of substance use and its associated sexual risk behavior.

The use of the sisterhood method for estimating maternal mortality ratio in Lagos state, Nigeria.

Summary Estimates of maternal mortality are crucial to inform the planning of reproductive health programmes and guide advocacy. The aim of this study was to obtain a population-based estimate of maternal mortality in Lagos State, Nigeria. The sisterhood method was used in 2008 to carry out the survey using a questionnaire in which respondents were asked about their sisters who died during pregnancy, childbirth or within 6 weeks after childbirth. The survey involved 4,315 respondents who provided information on 9,910 ever married sisters. The life-time likelihood (risk) of maternal death for women aged 15-49 years was found to be 0.0239 or 1 in 42. The estimated maternal mortality ratio was 450 per 100,000 live births with a 95% CI of 360 and 530. Out of 111 reported deaths, 35 (31.5%) occurred during pregnancy, 49 (44.1%) occurred during delivery and 27 (24.3%) within 6 weeks of delivery.

Contraceptive prevalence among young women in Nigeria.

In almost all societies in the world there is an increase in sexual activity among young persons (10-24 years). There is a need for contraceptive use among them to prevent high risk unintended pregnancies. This study was carried out to determine the contraceptive prevalence among young women in Nigeria. The study population was 832 young women between the ages of 15 and 24 years. Only 11.1% of the respondents had ever used contraceptives although 63.2% of them had had sexual intercourse. Contraceptive usage was significantly higher (p<0.05) among the single sexually active women (38.5%) than among the married women (7.7%). Only 7.3% of respondents are currently using a contraceptive method. The main methods in use were condoms and pills. There is an unmet need for contraceptives among young women in Nigeria. It is necessary to improve these young women's abilities to protect themselves against unwanted pregnancies.

Community-Based Survey of Unwanted Pregnancy in Southwestern Nigeria

Unwanted pregnancy; and consequently unsafe abortion; remains major reproductive health problems in Nigeria that needs to be tackled. Unfortunately; there is a dearth of information on this problem at the community level. This study therefore examined the prevalence of unwanted pregnancy in the community as well as associated factors including the views; perceptions and attitudes of community members towards unwanted pregnancy and the pattern of help-seeking behaviour on unwanted pregnancy. Information was obtained from 3;743 women in urban and rural communities in two Nigerian states of Lagos and Edo. At some point in life; 26.6 of the respondents had had unwanted Pregnancy while abortion prevalence was 21.7 . Short birth intervals (21.1 ); high cost of raising children (20.1 ); interruption of education (20.1 ) and being unmarried (17.3 ) were the most common reasons for not wanting pregnancies. Most of the respondents (91.3 ) were aware of some form of contraception but ever-use rate was only 36.6 while current use rate was 23.4 . Both abortion and contraceptive use were significantly associated with increasing levels of education. Unwanted pregnancy constitutes a problem even at the community level and more research is needed to understand the persistent disparity between contraceptive knowledge and usage; as increased usage will reduce unwanted pregnancy and induced abortion

Characteristics of Abortion Care Seekers in South-Western Nigeria

This prospective hospital-based study was carried out to understand the characteristics of abortion care seekers in south-western Nigeria. Information was obtained from a total of 1876 women seeking abortion at hospitals using a questionnaire. The results show that majority (60 ) were between the ages of 15 and 24 years; of which adolescents between the ages of 15 and 19 years constituted 23.7 . Most (63.2 ) of the respondents were unmarried; but married women also constituted a significant proportion (30.2 ) of the abortion care seekers. Students were the single highest group; while the predominant economic activity was trading (26.7 ). Respondents terminated their pregnancies mainly because they were students or because they did not desire to have children. Most (35.5 ) of the women were introduced to providers by friends. Average contraceptive prevalence among the abortion care seekers was 27.4 . It is obvious from the results that young persons; especially in-school adolescents; should be targeted for comprehensive sexuality education especially in view of the current HIV/AIDS pandemic

Contraceptive usage among abortion seekers in Nigeria.

A study on contraceptive usage among abortion seekers in 150 randomly selected health institutions in the most and the least urbanized states of the health zone B representing the South Western states of Nigeria was conducted over a period of 2 months. There were 1839 abortion seekers during the period. About 30.4% (559) of the respondents admitted to ever used any form of contraceptive methods. Most of the respondents who admitted to ever used any form of contraceptives i.e. 81.2% (454/559) were not using the contraceptive methods regularly and this cut across all the methods. Oral contraceptive pill was the commonest method used, though not on regular basis. The most frequent reason for not ever used contraceptive methods was ignorance. There is a need for intensification of strategies for promotion of use of family planning methods, which can be achieved through good counselling, sexuality education, and availability of cheap, and affordable contraceptive methods and services.