Reproductive health needs of young persons in markets and motor parks in south west Nigeria.

The aim of the study was to assess the reproductive health needs of out-of-school males and females aged 12-26 years working in markets and motor parks in Ibadan using Focus Group Discussions (FGD) and a survey questionnaire. Result revealed that sexual experience was higher among males (80%) compared to females (66%). Multiple concurrent sexual partnerships were found to be common among unmarried young men (71%) than women (51%) but means to prevent pregnancy or sexually transmitted disease (STD) were rarely employed. The knowledge of HIV was high (70%) though very few (12%) were aware that an infected individual would remain asymtomatic. Moreover, 36.5% thought that condoms make sex less enjoyable. Between 6 and 9% used a method for disease prevention within marriage or regular partnerships compared to 16% in casual contacts. Despite high exposure to risk, the prevalence of STDs was low as only 4% of the sexually experienced males and 9% of females were infected with Candida Albicans, Chlamydia trachomatis and Trichomonas vaginitis or Neisseria gonorrhea. The ready availability of antibiotics may account for this apparent discrepancy. These findings suggest that out of school adolescents working in motor parks needs sexuality education and counseling backed up with clinical services.

Students admission grades and their performance at Ibadan University pre-clinical MBBS examinations.

OBJECTIVE: The main objective of this study was to examine the admission grades in Senior School Certificate Examinations (SSCE) and Joint Admission Matriculation Board (JAMB) Examinations in relation to their performance at the pre-clinical class, at the University of Ibadan medical school. A descriptive, cross sectional study was carried out from December 1998-April 1999. Records of students' admitted into the medical school in 1991/92 session were studied. The results showed a stronger correlation in the performance of the students at the 100 level examination and the Part 1 MBBS examination with the SSCE grades than their JAMB scores. Students admitted on merit according to JAMB scores performed averagely better than their other counterpart with lower JAMB scores. This result demonstrated that the SSCE scores are a better predictor of performance at preclinical MBBS examination than the JAMB scores. More attention needs to be placed on the quality of SSCE scores during admission into the medical school.