Associations of Neighborhood Walkability with Sedentary Time in Nigerian Older Adults.

Previous studies have investigated the potential role of neighborhood walkability in reducing sedentary behavior. However, the majority of this research has been conducted in adults and Western developed countries. The purpose of the present study was to examine associations of neighborhood environmental attributes with sedentary time among older adults in Nigeria. Data from 353 randomly-selected community-dwelling older adults (60 years and above) in Maiduguri, Nigeria were analyzed. Perceived attributes of neighborhood environments and self-reported sedentary time were assessed using Nigerian-validated and reliable measures. Outcomes were weekly minutes of total sedentary time, minutes of sitting on a typical weekday, and minutes of sitting on a typical weekend day. In multivariate regression analyses, higher walkability index, proximity to destinations, access to services, traffic safety, and safety from crime were associated with less total sedentary time and sedentary time on both a weekday and a weekend day. Moderation analysis showed that only in men was higher walking infrastructure and safety found to be associated with less sedentary time, and higher street connectivity was associated with more sedentary time. The findings suggest that improving neighborhood walkability may be a mechanism for reducing sedentary time among older adults in Nigeria.

Professional Satisfaction and Desire to Emigrate among Nigerian Physiotherapists.

PURPOSE: Physiotherapists from developing countries are attracted to developed countries, where health personnel are in high demand. We investigated Nigerian physiotherapists' desire to emigrate, explored the possible relationship between job satisfaction and emigration, and elucidated common reasons why physiotherapists emigrate to other countries. METHODS: Nigerian physiotherapists (n=181) were surveyed using a three-part questionnaire. Part 1 elicited socio-demographic information; part 2 assessed satisfaction with work; and part 3 assessed the importance of some possible reasons that physiotherapists choose to emigrate. RESULTS: Close to half of the physiotherapists surveyed have plans to emigrate, but no relationship exists between job satisfaction level and desire to emigrate. An overwhelming majority felt that better or more realistic remuneration was the most important reason for them to leave their country, whereas age and practice experience were inversely related to physiotherapists' desire to emigrate. CONCLUSION: Policies aimed at mediating "brain drain" should take age and experience into consideration and should be geared toward creating opportunities for career advancement and continuing education.

Objectif : Les physiothérapeutes des pays en voie de développement sont attirés par les pays développés, où le personnel du secteur de la santé est en forte demande. La présente étude s'intéresse au désir des physiothérapeutes nigérians d'immigrer et explore le lien possible entre la satisfaction au travail et l'émigration. Elle s'attarde aussi aux raisons les plus courantes qui amènent les physiothérapeutes à émigrer vers d'autres pays. Méthode : Des physiothérapeutes nigérians (n=181) ont fait l'objet d'un sondage à l'aide d'un questionnaire en trois parties. La partie I de ce sondage s'intéressait aux caractéristiques sociodémographiques de l'échantillon; la partie II évaluait leur satisfaction au travail; la partie III évaluait l'importance et certaines raisons susceptibles d'expliquer pourquoi les physiothérapeutes souhaitaient émigrer. Résultats : Près de la moitié des physiothérapeutes sondés projettent d'émigrer, mais il n'y a pas chez eux de relation entre la satisfaction au travail et le désir d'émigrer. Une très vaste majorité des personnes sondées estiment qu'une meilleure rémunération et un salaire plus réaliste sont la raison la plus importante pour elles de quitter leur pays, alors que l'âge et l'expérience sont inversement liés au désir du physiothérapeute d'émigrer. Conclusion : Les politiques visant à susciter un « exode des cerveaux ¼ devraient tenir compte de l'âge et de l'expérience et devraient viser à créer des possibilités d'avancement professionnel et de formation continue.

The Short International Physical Activity Questionnaire: cross-cultural adaptation, validation and reliability of the Hausa language version in Nigeria.

BACKGROUND: Accurate assessment of physical activity is important in determining the risk for chronic diseases such as cardiovascular disease, stroke, type 2 diabetes, cancer and obesity. The absence of culturally relevant measures in indigenous languages could pose challenges to epidemiological studies on physical activity in developing countries. The purpose of this study was to translate and cross-culturally adapt the Short International Physical Activity Questionnaire (IPAQ-SF) to the Hausa language, and to evaluate the validity and reliability of the Hausa version of IPAQ-SF in Nigeria. METHODS: The English IPAQ-SF was translated into the Hausa language, synthesized, back translated, and subsequently subjected to expert committee review and pre-testing. The final product (Hausa IPAQ-SF) was tested in a cross-sectional study for concurrent (correlation with the English version) and construct validity, and test-retest reliability in a sample of 102 apparently healthy adults. RESULTS: The Hausa IPAQ-SF has good concurrent validity with Spearman correlation coefficients (ρ) ranging from 0.78 for vigorous activity (Min Week-1) to 0.92 for total physical activity (Metabolic Equivalent of Task [MET]-Min Week-1), but poor construct validity, with cardiorespiratory fitness (ρ = 0.21, p = 0.01) and body mass index (ρ = 0.22, p = 0.04) significantly correlated with only moderate activity and sitting time (Min Week-1), respectively. Reliability was good for vigorous (ICC = 0.73, 95% C.I = 0.55-0.84) and total physical activity (ICC = 0.61, 95% C.I = 0.47-0.72), but fair for moderate activity (ICC = 0.33, 95% C.I = 0.12-0.51), and few meaningful differences were found in the gender and socioeconomic status specific analyses. CONCLUSIONS: The Hausa IPAQ-SF has acceptable concurrent validity and test-retest reliability for vigorous-intensity activity, walking, sitting and total physical activity, but demonstrated only fair construct validity for moderate and sitting activities. The Hausa IPAQ-SF can be used for physical activity measurements in Nigeria, but further construct validity testing with objective measures such as an accelerometer is needed.