ABSTRACT
Aim: This study aims at identifying some delivery outcome determinants in teenage mothers and evaluating the effect of booking in light of these parameters. Study Design: A retrospective study. Place and Duration of Study: Teenage mothers who delivered in a teaching hospital in Nigeria over a 5-year period (between 1st Jan, 2003 and 31st Dec, 2007). Method: Labour ward register and midwives report books were used to get their hospital numbers. These case notes were retrieved subsequently from the health records department and relevant data extracted. Results: There were 8,297 deliveries during the study period and 453 cases of teenage mothers giving a teenage delivery incidence of 5.5%. Of the total teenage deliveries, older teenage mothers (16-19 years) constituted 94.7% while younger teenage mothers were 5.3%. Booked teenage mothers were 83.5% while 16.5% were unbooked. Still birth rate was 87 per 1000. No maternal death was recorded among the teenage mothers. Older teenagers had better obstetric indices such as higher vaginal delivery rate, lower caesarean section and instrumental delivery rate, reduced blood loss, better Apgar scores and less intra uterine fatal deaths than younger teenagers. However, some of these were not statistically significant and in some cases, were barely marginal. Conclusion: Influence of age on teenage delivery and other biological risk factors may not be as much as earlier perceived. Paying special attention to the socio-economic condition of teenage mothers and by extension, their access to essential obstetric care, may obviate the poor obstetric outlook hitherto attached to it.
ABSTRACT
BACKGROUND: Although testicular cancer is the most common cancer among 18- to 50-year-old males, healthcare providers seldom teach testicular self-examination techniques to clients, thus potentially missing opportunities for early detection. This form of cancer is easily diagnosable by testicular self-examination and is 96 percent curable if detected early. Periodic self-examination must be performed for early detection. Knowledge deficits and sociocultural norms contribute to low levels of health-related knowledge in most patients, resulting in undue delays before seeking medical advice. OBJECTIVE: Our aim is to assess the level of awareness of testicular cancer and the prevalence of the practice of testicular self-examination in academic environments to enable appropriate interventions. METHOD: A cross-sectional survey was administered to 750 consecutive males aged 18-50 years in three tertiary institutions in Port Harcourt from October 2008 to April 2009. RESULT: Knowledge or awareness of testicular cancer was poor. Almost all of the respondents were unaware that testicular lumps may be signs of cancer. A lump was typically construed as a benign carbuncle or something that could resolve spontaneously. The main factor contributing to respondents' lack of knowledge of testicular cancer was that few reported that they were "ever taught about testicular self-examination." CONCLUSION: Young adult men are unaware of their risk for testicular cancer, which is the most common neoplasm in this age group. Healthcare providers are not informing them of this risk, nor are they teaching them the simple early detection technique of self-examination of the testes.