Awareness of Menopausal Symptoms Among Women Attending Medical Out-Patient Clinic in A Selected General Hospital, Lagos State (Published)
Menopause is a significant transitional phase in a woman’s life, marked by the cessation of menstrual cycles and accompanied by a range of physical, emotional, and psychological symptoms. This study aimed at assessing awareness and coping strategies on menopausal symptoms among women attending medical outpatient clinic in selected general hospital Lagos State. This study objective focused on level of awareness, common menopausal symptoms, coping strategies and factors influencing choice of coping strategies among menopausal women. Quantitative descriptive study design was adopted as primary data were gotten through the administration of questionnaire to selected 220 menopausal women using simple random sampling technique. The data collected were collated into Microsoft Excel and analysed using Statistical Package for Social Sciences (SPSS) software version 27. Descriptive analysis is done mainly using frequency tables and percentage. Inferential statistics using Chi-Square analysis was conducted to determine the hypothesis. This study revealed that awareness of menopause and its symptoms is relatively high among respondents as majority 58.2% strongly agreed that menopause is a natural phase of a woman’s life and not a disease while 41.8% agreed. Common menopausal symptoms included hot flashes, night sweats, irregular periods, mood changes, and fatigue. Additionally, weight gain, joint/muscle pain, and sleep disturbances were prevalent, though vaginal dryness was less commonly reported. Many engaged in relaxation techniques, maintained a balanced diet, and participated in social activities. Also, there is a significant relationship (p<0.05) between educational status of women and level of awareness on menopausal symptoms. These findings highlight the role of education, professional guidance, and cultural factors in shaping menopause management approaches and increased awareness on hormone replacement therapy as alternative treatment options.
Keywords: awareness, menopausal symptoms, menopausal women, outpatient clinic
A study on awareness and Usage of Malaria Intervention Measures among pregnant women in Imo State Nigeria (Published)
The study was carried out to evaluate the level of awareness and subsequent usage of malaria intervention among pregnant women in Imo State Nigeria. The sample population was determined randomly from six (6) Local Government Areas to cover the Three (3) Geopolitical Zones of the Study Area. The subjects were people residing in the twelve local government areas under study. Random sampling technique was used to select 160 respondents (80 from each of the healthcare centers or hospitals) from each Local Government Area. The study included a total of 960 participants. The study was a cross sectional survey for the assessment of the impact of intermittent preventive therapy and insecticide treated nets. Data obtained from the study was analyzed using the statistical package for Social sciences (SPSS). The results obtained showed that 429(44.68%) use IPTp only, 287(29.89%) use ITNs only while 244(25.41%) combine both. From the result, the compliance rate and malaria status of ITN, IPT and ITN+IPT usage revealed malaria infection rate of 51.25% versus 41.25% versus 15.31% in relation to age, 55.31% versus 37.81% versus 14.69% in relation to educational level, 48.44% versus 42.29% versus 17.19% in relation to occupation, 51.25% versus 41.25% versus 15.31% gravidity and (42.50% versus 45.94% versus 19.38%) trimester. This study has been able to establish the fact that some pregnant women do not protect themselves from malaria parasite infection with protective measures such as ITNs and IPTp, in spite of the popularity given to the use of these protective measures, particularly the ITNs which in most centres are distributed free of charge to these pregnant women. This underscores the need creates awareness on the use IPTp among pregnant women.
Keywords: Imo State, Intervention Measures, Malaria, Pregnant Women, awareness
Effect of Health Education Intervention Programme on Awareness of Danger Signs in Childhood Illnesses (Under-Five) Among Caregivers in Kaduna State, Nigeria (Published)
The study assesses the effect of health education intervention programme on awareness of danger signs in childhood illnesses (Under-Five Children) among caregivers in Kaduna State. Nigeria. To achieve the purpose of the study, five research questions were raised while five hypotheses were formulated and tested to guide the study. Quasi-experimental of pre-test and post-test experimental and control groups was adopted for this study. The population of the study consist of 19,684 of the entire caregivers in Kaduna State. The sample size of this study is two hundred (200) participants selected by using multi-stage sampling techniques. The instrument for data collection for the study is researcher’s developed questionnaire. Inferential statistic of paired sample t-test was used to test the formulated hypotheses at 0.05 level of significance. The finding indicated that there is significance awareness of danger signs in childhood illnesses (Under-Five Children) among caregivers in Kaduna state, Nigeria after health education intervention programme (t-23.07, df: 99; P=.000); and there is significant difference between the experimental and control group after health education intervention programme based on their awareness of danger signs in childhood illnesses (t=-15.316, df: 198; (P=.000). Based on the findings of the study it was concluded that health education intervention programme improves awareness of danger signs in childhood illnesses (Under-Five Children) among caregivers in Kaduna state, Nigeria. This is because the effect of health education intervention programme was significant. It was therefore recommended among others that the Kaduna State Ministry of Health should work with all the healthcare facilities to promote that health education intervention programme on knowledge of danger signs in childhood illnesses and should be carried out during ANC visits.
Keywords: Effect, and under-five, awareness, childhood illnesses, danger signs, health education intervention programme