The influence of socioeconomic status on the hemoglobin level and anthropometry of sickle cell anemia patients in steady state at the Lagos University Teaching Hospital

Background: Sickle cell anemia (SCA) has multisystemic manifestations and is associated with severe morbidity and high mortality. It commonly affects growth leading to wasting and stunting. Aims and Objectives: This study aimed to determine the influence of socioeconomic status on the nutritional status using anthropometric measurements and steady-state hemoglobin; of children with homozygous SCA; aged 1 year to 10 years in steady state at the Lagos University Teaching Hospital. Materials and Methods: This is a cross-sectional study involving 100 children with SCA and 100 age-; sex-; and social class-matched controls that fulfilled the inclusion criteria. Social class was assessed using educational attainment and occupation of parents. Hemoglobin concentration was determined using the oxy-hemoglobin method. Results: This study demonstrated a significantly lower mean weight and weight-for-height in the SCA patients than those of controls (P 0.001). By contrast; this study did not demonstrate any statistical significant difference in the mean height and mean body mass index of SCA patients and controls (P 0.1). However; SCA patients had significantly lower values than controls in each of the social classes. Conclusion: Poor socioeconomic status has an adverse effect on the nutritional status and hemoglobin of SCA patients

The Relationship between Basal Blood Pressure and Body Mass Index in Apparently Healthy Nigerian Adolescent Students

Background: In contrast to the situation in developed countries, very few studies have been done on blood pressure (BP) determinants among Nigerian adolescents. Aim: To evaluate the relationship between basal BP and body mass index (BMI) in a group of healthy Nigerian secondary school students. Methods: This was a cross-sectional study of 1080 adolescent students selected by a two-stage multi-phase cluster sampling technique. The height, weight and BP of each student were taken using standard methods. Pearson correlation was used to describe the strength of association between variables. Multiple stepwise regressions were conducted to determine the individual or combined contribution(s) of some variables to the variation in BP levels.Results: Mean BMI for males and females were 17.63 ± 2.54 kg/m2 and 18.87 ± 1.81 kg/m2 respectively. Forty six students (4.3%) were overweight. Mean systolic and diastolic BPs were 113.13 + 11.44 mm Hg and 68.29 + 8.07 mm Hg respectively. Thirty-five subjects (3.2%) had systolic or diastolic BP above the 95th percentile for age and sex. Twenty-four (68.6%) of these subjects were also found to be overweight. A moderate positive correlation was observed between both systolic and diastolic BP and BMI. Regression analysis showed that weight, height and BMI were predictors of systolic BP. Height and BMI were the only predictors of diastolic BP. Conclusion: These findings suggest that there is a moderate association between basal BP and BMI

The prognostic significance of the QRS amplitudes of electrocardiogram in kwashiorkor

Electrocardiograms (ECGs) were performed on 52 children with kwashiorkor and 52 age-and sex-matched controls. Heart rates were higher (p0.05) and QTc intervals longer (p0.05) in patients with kwashiorkor than in the controls. The QRS amplitude in all the leads in patients with kwashiorkor was smaller (p0.05) than those of the controls. The QRS amplitudes in the survivors were significantly wider (p0.05) controls. The QRS amplitudes in the survivors were significantly wider (p0.05) than in those of the patients who died. Average QRS amplitude of less than 5mm in the standard limb leads and less than 10mm in the chest leads indicated poor prognosis