Gender and obstetric factors in the determination of the age of onset of schizophrenia in a Nigerian cohort.

The importance of gender and obstetric factors as predictors of the age of onset of schizophrenia is debatable. Unfortunately, there is a significant dearth of studies in developing countries such as Nigeria. This study involved a survey of patients with schizophrenia (n = 1,445; N = 2,393), from March 2014 to March 2016, from a psychiatric hospital in southwest Nigeria. Structured diagnostic interviews were used to confirm diagnosis. Females had a higher age of onset (M = 34.91, SD = 15.52) compared with males (M = 28.78, SD = 10.62; p = .00, M = 32.74 ± 12.96). Gender and marital status were the only variables significantly related to the age of onset (p = .00). Our model predicted 10.1% of the variability in the determination of the age of onset of schizophrenia. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2019 APA, all rights reserved).

Improving access to interventions among mothers screened positive for post-partum depression (PPD) at National Programme on Immunization (NPI) clinics in south-western and south-eastern Nigeria - A service development report.

We investigate the possibility of improving access to interventions among mothers screened positive for post-partum depression (PPD) at National Programme on Immunization (NPI) clinics randomly selected from Lagos and Enugu States in south-western and south-eastern Nigeria respectively. The principle of human centred design was employed by engaging the mothers screened positive for PPD to be part of the decision making regarding their further assessment and intervention services. The study brought intervention services to primary healthcare centre at the NPI clinics. Improvement in willingness to seek interventions was observed among the mothers screened positive for PPD in this study when compared to our observation in a previous report, where mothers diagnosed with PPD were referred and requested to visit a mental health facility closer to their NPI clinics for further assessment and interventions (95.2% versus 33.7%). Interventional services for the mothers diagnosed with PPD also impact positively on the growth parameters of their infants on follow-up. Principle of human centred design improved access to intervention services among the mothers and infants studied. NPI clinics at primary healthcare level would provide appropriate forum for early screening of mothers for PPD and interventions in low-resource setting like Nigeria. There would be improvement in maternal and child health coverage if the Nigerian Government can adapt human centred design principles employed in this study nationwide.