Beyond drug treatment: a cross-sectional assessment of palliative care services for people living with HIV/AIDS at public health facilities, Abuja, Nigeria.

INTRODUCTION: palliative care offers a care and support system to people living with Human Immunodeficiency Virus (HIV) infection/Acquired Immunodeficiency Syndrome (AIDS). In Nigeria, the palliative care (PC) practice generally is new and still developing. While most studies on HIV/AIDS assess drug treatment and adherence for people living with HIV/AIDS (PLWHA), there is paucity of data on PC services available for them. We therefore assessed the PC services offered and referral services available to PLWHA in health facilities. METHODS: we conducted a cross-sectional study across all public secondary and tertiary health facilities offering HIV care services in Abuja, Nigeria between February and May 2017. We used an interviewer-administered semi-structure questionnaire to collect information from the heads of health facilities. The questionnaire assessed palliative care and referral services for PLWHA. Frequencies and proportions were calculated using Microsoft-Excel. RESULTS: of the 17 health facilities assessed, only 6 (35.3%) have constituted a palliative care team but only 3 (17.6%) had some sources of fund for PC. Twelve (70.6%) provided nutritional support for PLWHA, 6 (35.3%) provided spiritual and 8 (47.1%) offered bereavement support for families of PLWHA. Sixteen (94.1%) had well-established referral services for PLWHA. CONCLUSION: palliative care services for PLWHA were generally poor in all the health facilities. There exists a well-established referral services for PLWHA in most of the health facilities. We recommend that the PC structure for PLWHA should be improved by increasing and ensuring compliance to guidelines and the established referral network should continue to be strengthened.

Health workers' perception of malaria rapid diagnostic test and factors influencing compliance with test results in Ebonyi state, Nigeria.

BACKGROUND: The standard practice in treating uncomplicated malaria is to prescribe artemisinin-based combination therapy (ACT) for only patients with positive test results. However, health workers (HWs) sometimes prescribe ACTs for patients with negative malaria rapid diagnostic test (mRDT) results. Available evidence on HWs perception of mRDT and their level of compliance with test results in Nigeria lacks adequate stratification by state and context. We assessed HWs perception of mRDT and factors influencing ACTs prescription to patients with negative mRDT results in Ebonyi state, Nigeria. METHODS: A cross-sectional survey was conducted among 303 HWs who treat suspected malaria patients in 40 randomly selected public and private health facilities in Ebonyi state. Health workers' perception of mRDT was assessed with 18 equally weighted five-point likert scale questions with maximum obtainable total score of 90. Scores ≥72 were graded as good and less, as poor perception. Data were analysed using descriptive statistics and logistic regression model at 5% significance level. RESULTS: Mean age of respondents was 34.6±9.4 years, 229 (75.6%) were females, 180 (59.4%) community health workers and 67 (22.1%) medical doctors. Overall, 114 (37.6%) respondents across healthcare facility strata had poor perception of mRDT. Respondents who prescribed ACTs to patients with negative mRDT results within six months preceding the survey were 154 (50.8%) [PHCs: 50 (42.4%), General hospitals: 18 (47.4%), tertiary facility: 51 (79.7%) and missionary hospitals: 35 (42.2%)]. Poor HWs' perception of mRDT promoted prescription of ACT to patients with negative mRDT results (AOR = 5.6, 95% C.I = 3.2-9.9). The likelihood of prescribing ACTs to patients with negative mRDT results was higher among HWs in public health facilities (AOR = 2.8, 95% C.I = 1.4-5.5) than those in the private. CONCLUSIONS: The poor perception of mRDT and especially common prescribing of ACTs to patients with negative mRDT results among HWs in Ebonyi state calls for context specific interventions to improve their perception and compliance with mRDT test results.

Palliative care for people living with HIV/AIDS: Factors influencing healthcare workers' knowledge, attitude and practice in public health facilities, Abuja, Nigeria.

BACKGROUND: Physicians and nurses play vital roles in addressing palliative care (PC) needs of people living with HIV/AIDS (PLWHA). The healthcare workers' (HCWs) experiences determine the success of palliative care delivery. There is paucity of data on PC for PLWHA. For this reason, we assessed the knowledge, attitude and practice of PC for PLWHA and associated factors among health care professionals. METHODS: We conducted a cross-sectional descriptive study among HCWs in public health facilities in the Federal Capital Territory, Nigeria between February and May, 2017. Multistage sampling technique with proportionate-to-size allocation was used to determine facility sample size and HCWs per professional discipline. Data were collected with questionnaires adapted from Palliative Care Quiz for Nursing, Frommelt Attitude toward Care of the Dying and practical questions adapted from PC standard guidelines. Participants' knowledge, attitude and practice were assessed by awarding one (1) point for each correct answer; incorrect or "not sure" answers took a zero (0) score. Correct responses were summed up to get a total score for each participant. Descriptive statistics was done to describe frequencies and proportions displayed on tables. Linear regression was done to determine factors associated with HCW's knowledge, attitude and practice of PC for PLWHA. RESULT: With a 100% response rate, the mean age of the 348 participants was 37.5 years (SD: ±8.9), 201 (57.8%) were female, 222 (63.8) were nurses and 230 (66.0%) had a work experience of 10 years or less. Majority of the participants, 310 (89.1%) agreed that palliative care focuses on the relief and prevention of suffering and 319 (91.7%) believe that PLWHA required palliative care. Misconceptions about palliative care include "palliative care is disease-oriented and not person oriented", 252 (72.6%) believed; "palliative care is concerned with prolongation of life", 279 (80.6%); and "use of placebos is appropriate in the treatment of some types of pain", 252 (72.6%). Among the participants, 52% disagreed that "palliative care should be given only for dying PLWHA" while only 18 (5.2%) were right on "family should be involved in the physical care of the dying PLWHA". Majority of the participants, 292 (84.1%) initiated palliative care discussion during patients' diagnosis while 290 (83.6%) informed terminally ill patients about their diagnosis. Regarding psychological issues, 22 (6.3%) participants hid the truth from the patients while 196 (56.3%) provided emotional support to the patients. Morphine 240 (69.0%) and Pentazocine 194 (55.7%) were the most commonly used drugs for treatment of severe pain by participants across all centres. CONCLUSION: In-service training and undergraduate training on palliative care were associated with knowledge and practice of palliative care for people living with HIV/AIDS. We recommended continuous quality in-service training and education on palliative care for HCWs. While we ensure voluntariness of participation and other ethical principles, the high response rate could be as a result of more motivated health worker than the norm. The results are unlikely to be representative of doctors and nurses in primary health care centres.

Epidemiological profile of the Ebola virus disease outbreak in Nigeria, July-September 2014.

INTRODUCTION: In July 2014, Nigeria experienced an outbreak of Ebola virus disease following the introduction of the disease by an ill Liberian Traveler. The Government of Nigeria with the support of Technical and Development Partners responded quickly and effectively to contain the outbreak. The epidemiological profile of the outbreak that majorly affected two States in the country in terms of person, place and time characteristics of the cases identified is hereby described. METHODS: Using field investigation technique, all confirmed and probable cases were identified, line-listed and analysed using Microsoft Excel 2007 by persons, time and place. RESULTS: A total of 20 confirmed and probable cases; 16 in Lagos (including the index case from Liberia) and 4 in Port Harcourt were identified. The mean age was 39.5 ± 12.4 years with over 40% within the age group 30-39 years. The most frequent exposure type was direct physical contact in 70% of all cases and 73% among health care workers. The total case-fatality was 40%; higher among healthcare workers (46%) compared with non-healthcare workers (22%). The epidemic curve initially shows a typical common source outbreak, followed by a propagated pattern. CONCLUSION: Investigation revealed the size and spread of the outbreak and provided information on the characteristics of persons, time and place. Enhanced surveillance measures, including contact tracing and follow- up proved very useful in early case detection and containment of the outbreak.

Knowledge, attitude and practice of cervical cancer screening among market women in Zaria, Nigeria.

BACKGROUND: Cervical cancer is the most common genital cancer and one of the leading causes of death among female population. Fortunately, this cancer is preventable by screening for premalignant lesions but this is rarely provided and hardly utilised. We assessed the knowledge, attitude and utilisation of cervical cancer screening among market women in Sabon Gari, Zaria. MATERIALS AND METHODS: This was a cross-sectional study to evaluate the knowledge, attitude and practice of cervical cancer screening among market women. A total of 260 women were administered with questionnaires which were both self and interviewer administered. These were analysed using SPSS version 11. RESULTS: Respondents exhibited a fair knowledge of cervical cancer and cervical cancer screening (43.5%); however, their knowledge of risk factors was poor. There was generally good attitude to cervical cancer screening (80.4%), but their level of practice was low (15.4%). CONCLUSIONS: There was a fair knowledge of cervical cancer and cervical cancer screening among Nigerian market women in this study, their practice of cervical cancer screening was poor.

Impact of a customized peer-facilitators training program related to sexual health intervention.

This study aimed to develop and implement a customized training program related to the delivery of an integrated human immunodeficiency virus - sexually transmitted infections (HIV-STI) risk reduction intervention for peer-facilitators and to evaluate its immediate outcome including changes in trainee knowledge, attitudes, and self-reported competence and confidence. We developed and delivered a structured training program and materials about HIV and STI prevention in a university setting. The training was offered to candidate facilitators who were planned to be involved in a larger project, known as Integrated HIV-STI Risk Reduction Program. Ten candidate facilitators participated in the training program and completed both the pretest and posttest survey questionnaire. The data were analyzed using SPSS version 17.0 software package and Wilcoxon signed rank test was applied to assess the impact of the training program. Overall, the trainees' performance in HIV-related and STI knowledge, attitude and stigma scores had significantly increased compared to the baseline. The median scores for HIV and STI knowledge after the training significantly increased from 22.0 to 30.5 (p=0.007) and 8.0 to 9.5 (p=0.005), respectively, whereas the median score on the positive attitude towards HIV and STI prevention rose from 39.0 to 57.0 (p=0.011). Upon completion of the program, 80-100% of the trainees believed that they were competent and confident in performing most of the designed sexual health intervention activities. This preliminary study suggests that a customized on-site training program on sexual health intervention could significantly improve their knowledge, attitude and practice related to HIV-STI prevention.