Background: Irritable bowel syndrome (IBS) has a significant impact on the quality of life (QOL). IBSQOL questionnaire is a 34-item valid instrument aimed at measuring QOL in IBS-D (predominant diarrhea) patients. To date, no Bengali version of the questionnaire is available. We aimed to develop so and examine its cross-cultural adaptability considering linguistic equivalence. Methods: IBSQOL Bengali version (IBSQOL-B) was produced by forward-backward translations. A cross-sectional study was conducted through consecutive sampling at Mahesh Bhattacharyya Homoeopathic Medical College and Hospital, Howrah, and National Institute of Homoeopathy, Kolkata. A mixed method study was conducted involving 350 patients suffering from IBS-D. The study consisted of standardized translation of the IBSQOL questionnaire into Bengali, followed by formal validation. Psychometric analysis was run to examine its factor structure, validity, and reliability. Results: The overall internal consistency was excellent (Cronbach's α and intraclass correlation coefficient 0.965; 95% confidence interval 0.960–0.970). Test-retest reliability (P > 0.05) was satisfactory. The Kaiser–Meyer–Olkin (KMO = 0.928) and Bartlett's test of sphericity (Chi-square 4284.193, P < 0.001) both suggested sample adequacy. In factor analysis, all the items loaded above the prespecified value of 0.4 and identified five components (psychological impact, limitation of daily activities, displeasure, limitation of sexual activity, and over concern) and one single isolated item; explaining 67.1% of the variation. The goodness-of-fit in CFA model was acceptable (Chi-square: 1238.436, P < 0.001; Comparative Fit Index = 0.819, Tucker–Lewis Index = 0.803, Root Mean Square Error of Approximation = 0.094, and Standardized Root Mean Square Residual = 0.130). Conclusions: The developed IBSQOL-B contains 34 items that are constructed within 5-component and a single isolated item model. It is a reasonably valid and reliable tool, enabled to measure the impact of IBS-D in QOL in Bengalee patients.

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Background: Hepatitis B virus (HBV) is highly infectious and a major cause of morbidity and mortality. Prevention of HBV infection can be achieved through safe practices and immunization. The objectives of this study were to assess knowledge, attitude, and preventive practices for HBV infection among market traders in Lagos State, Nigeria. Methods: A descriptive, cross-sectional study involving 417 market traders in Somolu Local Government Area of Lagos State selected by multistage sampling technique was conducted. A pretested interviewer-administered questionnaire was used for data collection. Data analysis was done using Statistical Package for the Social Sciences version 20. Chi-square statistics was used to test the association between variables, and the level of significance was set at 5%. Results: The mean age of the respondents was 39.2 ± 12.5 years. About 64% were female, 69.8% were married, and only 15.6% had tertiary education. Majority (97.6%) were aware of HBV infection. Overall, about 80% of the respondents had good knowledge of HBV infection, while 51.8% had good attitude toward HBV prevention, but only 18.5% of them had good preventive practices toward HBV infection. Only 5% of the respondents had completed the three doses of hepatitis B vaccine. Knowledge and preventive practices of the respondents about HBV infection were significantly associated with the level of education and marital status, while attitude to the preventive practices was associated with gender. Respondents' knowledge and attitude were significantly associated with the preventive practices for HBV infection. Conclusion: There is a need to target the traders in the markets and create appropriate awareness, screening, and vaccination programs for the prevention of HBV infection.

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Background: Substance abuse among commercial drivers in Nigeria is a major public health problem. This study was designed to determine the willingness of drivers to quit substance abuse in motor parks. Materials and Methods: A cross-sectional study was conducted among 350 commercial drivers across motor parks in Ikorodu Division of Lagos State in June 2019. Participants were selected using the multistage sampling technique, while information was obtained using an interviewer-administered questionnaire. The data were analyzed in August 2019 with univariate odds ratios (ORs) and 95% confidence intervals (95% CIs) used to determine the correlates of willingness to quit (WTQ). Results: Two hundred and eight respondents (59.4%) had engaged in substance abuse in the motor parks within the past month with most using depressants (98.1%), nonopioid pain relievers (61.1%), and stimulants (60.6%). One hundred and twenty-six respondents, that is, 60.5% of persons who had abused substances while in the motor parks. Greater WTQ was associated with road traffic crash within the past 12 months (OR = 1.33, 95% CI: 1.22–1.51), working for more than 5 days a week (OR = 1.12, 95% CI: 1.04–1.42), and existing diagnosis of a non–communicable disease (OR = 1.47, 95% CI: 1.14–1.71). Reduced WTQ was associated with lower educational status (OR = 0.82, 95% CI: 0.21–0.94) and younger age (OR = 0.31, 95% CI: 0.22–0.68). Conclusion: WTQ substance abuse in motor parks is high among the respondents. The correlates of increased or reduced WTQ should be taken into consideration when planning interventions to reduce substance abuse in motor parks.

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Nigeria, as well as other low- and middle-income countries, still lags significantly behind in the development, understanding, and application of genomics-based approaches in the diagnosis and treatment of diseases. To close this gap, and to enjoy the monumental opportunities of genomics and precision medicine, training and education in genomics must become a priority and must commence early enough in medical training. This article presents a synopsis of the development of genomics, the current state of genomics research and education with a focus on Nigeria and importantly, provides critical suggestions on how best to integrate genomics into undergraduate medical training in Nigeria. There is no doubt about the need to prepare Nigerian physicians to be able to tap adequately into the countless opportunities of the genomics era. As a matter of urgency, steps must be taken to introduce carefully designed, unified and competency-based genomics training module based on sound pedagogy into the Nigerian medical undergraduate curricula.

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Background: The rising prevalence of alcohol use among youths in low resource settings is a major public health issue of concern, especially as alcohol use remains a leading contributor to deaths and disability globally. This study aimed to evaluate the effects of screening and brief intervention (SBI) on alcohol use risk among university students. Methods: In this quasi-experimental study, a total of 636 students were screened for alcohol use risk with the World Health Organization Alcohol, Smoking, and Substance Involvement Screening Test (WHO-ASSIST) version 3.1. All participants with moderate and high risk of alcohol use were administered brief intervention (BI) delivered by trained students at baseline, 1 month, and 3 months, with a final assessment in 6 months. Longitudinal data on their alcohol use risk were analyzed. Results: The mean age (standard deviation) of the participants was 21.13 (3.05) years and 44.5% were female. The prevalence of the current alcohol use based on the WHO-ASSIST was 49.2% (n = 315). Following three sessions of BI, the repeated measures ANOVA indicated that the WHO-ASSIST mean score for high-risk alcohol users (n = 44) fell from 33.23 (3.82) at baseline to 18.3 (9.84) at 6^th month. This difference was statistically significant. Similarly, the mean score for moderate alcohol users fell from 19.62 (2.97) at baseline to 11.31 (5.52) at 6 months. The difference was statistically significant. There were significant group-level differences in the risk score over the study period, for the low risk, moderate risk, and high-risk users at the end of the study. Conclusion: Screening and BI showed significant benefits on alcohol use risk. Our findings suggest SBI as a feasible and effective intervention for mitigating the risk of alcohol use among young students in resource-restricted settings. Further research using a robust sample to reflect differences in setting and student characteristics is warranted.

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Background: Cancer is a public health problem affecting all categories of people worldwide and radiation therapy is often the mainstay of management. A successful radiotherapy treatment requires well-skilled professionals such as radiation oncologist, therapy radiographers, and medical physicist. Radiography is an indispensable heart of modern medicine, in the diagnosis and management of diseases. This study was conducted to determine the level of awareness and knowledge of the practice of therapy radiographers among radiography students. Methods: This study was a descriptive cross-sectional study conducted among radiography students in College of Medicine, University of Lagos over a period of 3 months. Results: Majority of the respondents (44.9%) were within the age range of 21–25 years. Majority of the respondents (91.7%) had not had clinical posting on radiotherapy. A few students, 33 (21.2%) had encountered a therapy radiographer during clinical posting. Majority of the respondents (89.7%) had never heard about a therapy radiographer. A minority (19.2%) of the respondents indicated that they would like to be therapy radiographers. Majority of the respondents (44.2%) had no interest because think they do not make good money (9.6%), because they did not know what it entailed (lacked knowledge) (16.0%), and because of the perceived high risk of radiation dose (25.6%). Conclusion: This study revealed that radiography majority of radiography students are not aware nor have the knowledge of the practice of therapy radiographers. There is also a lack of interest in these students in becoming therapy radiographers.

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Background: The hand can be described as the sixth-sense organ due to its rich sensory innervations and its irreplaceable role in daily functioning. It is an organ of exploration, especially in the children; hence, higher predisposition to trauma. Early surgical treatment as required is expedient to prevent complications such as contractures due to rapid wound healing in these patients. Methods: The demographic characteristics of the patients, causes of injuries, treatment modalities, and outcome of treatment were documented after retrieving the information from the case notes. Results: A total of 352 hand cases were seen over 5 years. Out of this, 57 (16.3%) were pediatric patients. Burn injury was the most common cause of hand injury seen in 38.6% of patients, and fingertip injury was the most common form of open soft-tissue injury seen in 22.8% of cases. Hand fractures were infrequent. Conclusion: Closer monitoring of children is important for trauma prevention. Early intervention in the form of soft-tissue repair/skin resurfacing is important for improved outcome.

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Spontaneous nonpuerperal uterine inversion is an exceedingly rare gynecological event. When it occurs, it is often due to an intrauterine polypoid mass attached to the uterine fundus, eventually pulling the uterus inside out over time as the mass increases in size. We present a case of nonpuerperal uterine inversion in a 32-year-old female who presented with heavy vaginal bleeding and vaginal protrusion of a fleshy mass. A clinical diagnosis of chronic uterine inversion due to a pedunculated submucous fibroid was made and was surgically managed with a vaginal myomectomy combined with an exploratory laparotomy and surgical reduction under general anesthesia. Good clinical acumen and surgical skills are invaluable for accurate diagnosis and appropriate treatment of nonpuerperal uterine inversion.

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Background: Uncorrected refractive error is the most common cause of visual impairment globally. Yet, there is paucity of refractionists in rural areas of most developing countries. Thus, there is a need for a cost effective but accurate method of refraction that could be used by rural health workers with minimal training. To compare refractive error measurements of autorefractor with that of focometer with a view to determining the accuracy and reliability of focometer. Methods: This was a comparative cross-sectional study conducted among patients with refractive errors attending the Guinness Eye Centre Clinic, Lagos University Teaching Hospital, Lagos, Nigeria. Consecutively consenting patients who met the eligibility criteria were recruited until the sample size was attained. All participants had a standardized protocol examination including visual acuity assessment and ocular examination. Refractive error was measured using the autorefractor, focometer and subjective refraction in both eyes of each participant. Comparison was done based on the means of variables of autorefractor, subjective refraction and focometer measurements using the paired-sample t-tests, Pearson's correlation and linear regression. Agreement between the measurements was investigated using the Bland-Altman analysis and reliability of the repeated measurements tested with Cronbach's alpha. The analysis was considered statistically significant when the P < 0.05. Results: Four hundred eyes of 200 patients were analyzed in this study. The mean age of respondents was 45.1 ± 16.3yrs and the male:female ratio was 1: 2.1. There was a statistically significant difference between the mean spherical (P < 0.001) and cylindrical (P < 0.001) readings of the focometer and autorefractor. However, the mean difference between the spherical equivalent of focometer and that of the autorefractor was not statistically significant (P = 0.66). Pearson correlation coefficient was high for the compared methods of refraction as both the bivariate linear regression between the autorefractor and focometer, and that between the subjective refraction and focometer showed good linearity. Bland-Altman plot showed good agreement between the mean focometer measurements with both the autorefractor (mean difference = +0.02 ± 0.85 DS; mean difference ± 1.96 standard deviation [SD] = 1.69 to − 1.65 DS) and subjective refractive (mean difference = +0.06 ± 0.72 DS; mean difference ± 1.96 SD = 1.49 to − 1.36 DS) measurements. Cronbach's alpha showed good reliability of focometer and autorefractor repeated measurements. Conclusion: This study showed a good correlation and agreement between focometer and autorefractor. Hence, focometer could be used for refraction in low resource settings where locals could be trained in its use.

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Abdominal aortic aneurysm (AAA) is the pathologic local dilation of the abdominal aorta in which the aortic diameter is ≥ 3.0 cm. Despite reports of increased incidence worldwide, there is a paucity of reports from Nigeria. We report a case series of patients with massive abdominal aortic aneurysms (AAA) to create awareness, document unusual presentation and the peculiar challenges to management in our practice. We reviewed two consecutive patients with AAA who had open repair. Medical records of the patients were used to retrieve data including age at surgery, presenting symptoms, indication for surgery, pre-operative work up imaging, intra-operative events, post-operative complications, and follow-up up to seven 7 years postoperatively. The two patients had delayed presentations due to initial misdiagnosis. The first patient had a contained posterior rupture while the second case presented unusually with obstructive jaundice. Diagnosis and planning of surgery were aided by CT angiography and both patients had open repair with use of bifurcated Goretex grafts. Following repair, the obstructive jaundice picture resolved in the second patient. Abdominal aortic aneurysms presented late with large sizes possibly due to poor awareness of available care. Epigastric pain, pruritus and obstructive jaundice may be presenting symptoms of a large aneurysm. We recommend careful attention to the choice of operative strategy, as influenced by anatomic features of the AAA and a coherent interdisciplinary team for successful outcomes.

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