Knowledge, prevalence and psychological effect of miscarriage among women of reproductive age group attending obstetrics and gynaecology clinics of Lagos University Teaching Hospital, Nigeria.

AIMS AND OBJECTIVES: To determine the knowledge, prevalence and psychological effect of miscarriage among women of reproductive age attending the obstetrics and gynaecology clinics of a tertiary healthcare facility in Lagos Nigeria. MATERIALS AND METHODS: Study design was a descriptive cross sectional study and 300 respondents were enrolled. A pre-tested interviewer-administered questionnaire and Multiple Affect Adjective Check List (MAACL) authored by M. Zukerman and B. Lubin (1965) were used for data collection. Responses of the respondents on the knowledge of various aspects of miscarriage was scored and graded as good (e"50%) and poor (^ <50%). The study was carried out in February 2011. RESULTS: Response rate was 97%. Only 0.7% of the respondents were not aware of miscarriage. A total of 214(73.5%) of the respondents had good knowledge of miscarriage and the mean knowledge score (%) was 60.4 ± 22.1. Most common myth about the cause of miscarriage among the respondents was eating of snail (63.2%). About 49% of respondents who had ever been pregnant have had miscarriage. Approximately 1 in 3.7 pregnancies was miscarried. The level of emotional distress in terms of anxiety, depression and hostility is significantly higher in women who have had miscarriage than their counterparts who had not. CONCLUSION: Level of knowledge of miscarriage was high though some miscarriage myths exist among the respondents. Approximately 1 in 3.7 pregnancies was miscarried. Miscarriage had negative psychological effect on women.

Knowledge of health insurance among primary health-care managers in Shongom LGA, Gombe State, Nigeria.

BACKGROUND: The National Health Insurance Scheme (NHIS) was formally launched in Nigeria in 2005 as an option to help bridge the evident gaps in health care financing, with the expectation of it leading to significant improvement in the country's dismal health status indices. Primary Health Care (PHC) is the nation's adopted strategy for health service delivery and its managers are central to the success of any health-related programme. There is paucity of specific data about what this critical group of people know about health insurance. OBJECTIVE: The objective of the study was to assess the level of knowledge of managers of the Shongom PHC system about health insurance. METHODS: The study was of a descriptive cross-sectional design carried out among twenty-eight PHC managers of government-provided and community-owned health facilities/units in Shongom LGA, Gombe State, northeastern Nigeria. RESULTS: Among the respondents, 17.9% had good knowledge about health insurance while 35.7% and 46.4% had fair and poor scores respectively. Respondents in government-provided facilities/units had 6.3%, 37.5% and 56.3% for good, fair and poor scores respectively, while their counterparts in community-owned facilities had 33.3% for each of the score grades. CONCLUSION: The research showed that knowledge about health insurance among managers in this rural PHC system was below average.

An observational survey of child car safety practices in private pre-primary and primary schools in two local government areas of Lagos State, Nigeria.

OBJECTIVE: To describe child car safety practices among children aged 0-8 years. Eight schools from two local government areas (LGAs) were selected by simple random sampling. Passenger cars were observed for child seating position and restraint use at each selected school as children were being dropped off in the morning. RESULTS: Observed child restraint use was very low, as was the rate of appropriate restraint for age (10.8% and 4.2%, respectively, in Eti-Osa, and 7.0% and 1.8% in Ikeja). Child restraint use decreased with increasing age group from 25% in those below 1 year, to 12% in those aged 1-3 years, and 7.4% in those aged 4-8 years. A large proportion of restrained passengers were inappropriately restrained in a seatbelt alone. Front seating among observed child passengers was not as high as in studies from similar environments (9.4% and 17.5% in Eti-Osa and Ikeja, respectively). Factors associated with child restraint use were number of child passengers in car, and whether or not the driver wore a seatbelt. Seating position of the child was significantly associated with the relationship of the driver to the child, and driver's gender. CONCLUSION: The level of child restraint use observed in this study is unacceptably low. The relatively low prevalence of front seating while riding in cars should however be further reduced. The study recommends the enactment of specific country legislation on the use of child restraints, accompanied by multifaceted intervention programmes to improve the availability and use of child car safety seats and booster seats.

An assessment of client satisfaction with services at a model primary health care centre in Ogun State, Nigeria.

BACKGROUND: Assessing patient satisfaction with health care is increasingly becoming an integral component of quality monitoring in health care systems. However, studies that have been conducted in this environment often show that clients' perceptions of quality of care from public sector providers are generally low. Timeliness, which refers to obtaining needed care and minimizing unnecessary delays in getting that care, may impact considerably on patients' satisfaction. This study w as designed toexamine how the consumers of services at a model primary health centre in Ogun State, Nigeria, viewed their health-seeking experience, relating this to the level of organization.and timeliness of health services provision. OBJECTIVES: This study sought to assess the satisfaction of clients with services at a model PHC centre at Pakoto, Ogun State, Nigeria. METHODS: The Pakoto model primary health care centre is an outstation of the Lagos University Teaching Hospital (LUTH) Idi-Araba, Lagos State. The study was carried out on weekday mornings at the model PHC clinic during the month of June, 2006. Methods of data collection employed were a general observation of clinic activities, and the administration of a modified client flow analysis chart to clients as they exited the health facility. RESULTS: The peak time of arrival of clients was between 9.00 and 11.00 a.m. when the majority (58.5%) of clients arrived; the majority of clients (84%) exited the facility oetween 11:00 a.m. and 1:00 p.m. The highest proportion of clients (33.1%) spent 3-4 hours accessing services at the model PHC facility. Good staff attitude topped the list of aspects of service liked most by clients (36%), while the aspect of service liked least by respondents was lack of timeliness of services (43%). Suggestions for improvement of services included increase in the number of staff and staff training (30%) and early arrival of staff to work (13%). CONCLUSION: The study concludes that timeliness of services at the primary health care level impacts positively upon the perception of quality of services rendered to clients.

An Assessment of Client Satisfaction with Services at a Model Primary Health Care Centre in Ogun State; Nigeria

BACKGROUND: Assessing patient satisfaction with health care is increasingly becoming an integral component of quality monitoring in health care systems. However; studies that have been conducted in this environment often show that clients' perceptions of quality of care from public sector providers are generally low. Timeliness; which refers to obtaining needed care and minimizing unnecessary delays in getting that care; may impact considerably on patients' satisfaction. This study w as designed toexamine how the consumers of services at a model primary health centre in Ogun State; Nigeria; viewed their health-seeking experience; relating this to the level of organization.and timeliness of health services provision. OBJECTIVES: This study sought to assess the satisfaction of clients with services at a model PHC centre at Pakoto; Ogun State; Nigeria. METHODS: The Pakoto model primary health care centre is an outstation of the Lagos University Teaching Hospital (LUTH) Idi-Araba; Lagos State. The study was carried out on weekday mornings at the model PHC clinic during the month of June; 2006. Methods of data collection employed were a general observation of clinic activities; and the administration of a modified client flow analysis chart to clients as they exited the health facility. RESULTS: The peak time of arrival of clients was between 9.00 and 11.00 a.m. when the majority (58.5) of clients arrived; the majority of clients (84) exited the facility oetween 11:00 a.m. and 1:00 p.m. The highest proportion of clients (33.1) spent 3-4 hours accessing services at the model PHC facility. Good staff attitude topped the list of aspects of service liked most by clients (36); while the aspect of service liked least by respondents was lack of timeliness of services (43). Suggestions for improvement of services included increase in the number of staff and staff training (30) and early arrival of staff to work (13). CONCLUSION: The study concludes that timeliness of services at the primary health care level impacts positively upon the perception of quality of services rendered to clients