ABSTRACT One major component of access to healthcare is utilization of healthcare services. The National Health Insurance Scheme (NHIS) was designed to reduce the impact of poverty on the ability of the enrollee to utilize healthcare services. The question is has NHIS increased the utilization of health care services and offered financial protection to its beneficiaries? The purpose of this study is to analyze comparatively, the healthcare cost and utilization of healthcare services by the ...
ABSTRACT This study investigated self-esteem, personality-type and gender as factors in self-disclosure of persons living with HIV/AIDS. Three hundred (300) persons living with HIV/AIDS (120 males and 180 females) aged 18-60 years with a mean age of 39 participated in the study. Three instruments were used for data collection: Index of self-esteem (ISE), Eysenck’s Personality Questionnaire (EPQ)-Adult, and Self-Disclosure Index (SDI). The result indicated that self-esteem - F(1,292) = 16.1...
ABSTRACT Sexually Transmitted Infections (STIs) are responsible for a variety of health problems especially among the youth who engage in risky sexual behaviour. The aim of the study was to assess the knowledge of predisposing factors to sexually transmitted infections among secondary school students in Awka, Anambra state. The study was a school based descriptive cross-sectional design in which structured, self-administered questionnaire was used to collect data on demographics characteris...
ABSTRACT It is generally known that some types of dust impairs lung function. This study was designed with the aim to access if occupational exposure to wood dust from sawing and plaining of wood can impair the lung function of carpenters in Akim and Akai Efa timber market, Calabar. 40 subjects each for both test and controls were used for this study. The test group consisted of carpenters while the other 40 subjects used consist of 40 blue collar workers who had no obvious adverse occupation...
Diabetes Mellitus (DM) is described as the chronic metabolic disorder that is characterized by elevation of blood glucose concentration (fasting plasma glucose >7mmol; or plasma glucose> 11.1mmol/l two hours after a meal) – caused by relative or absolute insulin deficiency in the body often accompanied with insulin resistance (Kartzung, 2003). Insulin is a hormone produced by the beta cells of the islets of Langerhans in the pancreas necessary for the body cells ability to utilize bloo...
ABSTRACT The bioavailability of drugs from conventional eye drops is generally low. Many studies have demonstrated that new and more complex ophthalmic drug forms exhibit advantage over traditional ones and are able to increase the bioavailability of the active substance by, among others, reducing the susceptibility of drug forms to defense mechanisms of the human eye, extending contact time of drug with the cornea, increasing the penetration through the complex anatomical structure of the ey...
ABSTRACT Cyclophosphamide (CP) is one of the most potent and widely used alkylating anticancer agents. Urotoxicity and myelosuppression is known as the most prevailing dose-limiting toxicity associated with CP. In the present study, the protective potential of Vernonia amygdalina and Ocimum gratissimum aqueous leaf extracts in CP-induced urotoxicity and myelosupression were evaluated using biochemical and histopathological approaches. Sodium -2-macarptoethane sulfonate (MESNA) was used as a p...
ABSTRACT The aim of this study was to determine the effect of different processing methods on the chemical composition of African yam bean (Sphenostylis stenocarpa) flours and the organoleptic properties of it’s gruels. The seeds of cream coloured African yam bean (AYB) and lime were purchased from Oye Igbo-Eze and Ogige Nsukka markets, respectively in Enugu State, Nigeria. The seeds were sorted and divided into 4 equal portions of 1.5kg each. One portion was washed and fermented in tap wat...
ABSTRACT Iron deficiency is one of the most common of the nutritional deficiencies. The eventual consequence of iron deficiency is iron deficiency anemia; where the body stores of iron have been depleted and the body is unable to maintain level of hemoglobin in the blood. Blood donation leads to a substantial iron loss, as about 0.5mg iron is lost per each milliliter of blood donated. It is evident that haemoglobin level alone is inadequate for detecting blood donors with iron deficiency with...
ABSTRACT This was a prospective cross-sectional survey study conducted in the Radio diagnostic Department of National Hospital Abuja from June 2013 to January 2014 on 210 cases (111 males and 99 females). The specific objectives were to determine the: (i) biometric values of corpus callosum in an adult Nigerian population, (ii) differences in corpus callosal biometry among different sexes and (iii) relationship between age, body mass index and corpus callosal biometry.The following findings w...
ABSTRACT The study assessed the nutritional and health status of school-aged children (5-12 years) in onchocerciasis endemic communities of Ebonyi State and determined the effect of Ivermectin intake on haemoglobin and parasitic load of the children. The study was conducted in Ebonyi State of Nigeria. A multi stage random sampling technique was used in selecting respondents for the study. A total sample of 360 school aged children aged 5 – 12 years (made up of 194 males and 166 females) par...
ABSTRACT The study was aimed at evaluating the antidiabetic potentials of Anogeissius leiocarpus DC Guill and Perr root bark methanol, ethanol and ethanol plus trona extract; and preparing, characterizing and evaluating lipospheres as drug delivery system loaded with A.leiocarpus root bark methanol extract. 400 mg/kg of methanol,ethanol and ethanol plus trona extracts of the A.leiocarpus root bark extracts were used in preliminary evaluation of antidiabetic effect of this plant root bark extr...
ABSTRACT Surgical aseptic technique is the application of those strict principles and procedures aimed at preventing the invasion of surgical sites by micro organisms. Prevention of surgical site infection (SSI) has become a priority worldwide. Approximately 50,000 deaths are estimated to occur annually across Europe, as a consequence of surgical site infection. In some university teaching hospitals in Nigeria, the rate of SSI ranges from 10 to 20%. This was linked to non compliance with stan...
ABSTRACT Uvaria chamae P. Beauv is known to have various medicinal and therapeutic properties. The Biochemical and toxicological effects of the leaf extract were assessed in this study using Albino wistar rats. Acute toxicity test was performed on the rats to determine the LD50.Sub acute toxicity test was also carried out by oral administration of different doses of ethanolic extract of U. chamae leaf (EEUC) on different groups of rats for thirty (30) days. Twenty (20) male albino wistar rats...
ABSTRACT The oral route is generally preferred for drug administration because of its ease and good patient compliance. In the search for new drugs for oral administration a major problem encountered is obtaining drug structures which, as well as being potent in viiro, possess favourable pharmacokinetic profiles which enable them to pass easily through the relevant body membranes, especially the gastrointestinal epithelia to effect their action. However, many of the compounds derived from com...