Prevalence of chronic non-specific low back pain among caregivers of stroke survivors in Kano, Nigeria and factors associated with it: A cross-sectional study.

Purpose: Low back pain (LBP) may have a specific or non-specific cause such as abnormal posture or repetitive tasks. For instance, lifting and transferring patients during caregiving for stroke survivors may predispose the caregivers to LBP. Objectives: The aim of this study is to determine the prevalence of chronic non-specific LBP and factors associated with it in caregivers of stroke survivors. Method: The research design used is cross-sectional study design. Participants of the study were caregivers of stroke survivors in Kano, Nigeria who were at least 18 years old. They were included if they had at least one-month experience with caregiving for at least 1 h per day. Presence of LBP and level of disability were assessed using participants' self-report and Rolland Morris Low Back Pain Disability Questionnaire respectively. The data collected was analyzed using descriptive, Chi-square statistics and Binary Logistics Regression. Result: Three hundred caregivers with mean age, 33.24 ± 10.32 years in which 207 and 93 were males and females respectively, participated in the study. The results showed that, there was a high prevalence (64.7%) of LBP among the caregivers. The prevalence was significantly associated with gender (p < 0.001), age (p = 0.029), occupation (p < 0.001) and duration of caregiving (p < 0.001) of the study participants. In addition, the result of the regression model showed that, being a female (p = 0.001), a civil servant (p = 0.031), a trader (p = 0.013), and a complete caregiver (0.001); and caregiving for a duration of 5 h or more per day (p = 0.024) are significant predictors of having LBP. Similarly, level of disability due to the presence of LBP among the study participants was significantly associated with gender (p < 0.001), occupation (p < 0.001), duration of caregiving (p = 0.025), and the nature of the caregiving (p < 0.001). Conclusion: Informal caregiving for stroke survivors may result in developing chronic non-specific LBP, especially among females, Civil servants, traders, complete caregivers and those with long duration of caregiving. This can add an additional burden on the family in terms of cost of care, result in reduced quality of caregiving and cause psychological stress. Thus, it is important the health of the caregivers of stroke survivors is considered during stroke rehabilitation.

Effects of Acupressure and Acupuncture-Like Transcutaneous Electrical Nerve Stimulation on Sleep Quality Among Pregnant Women.

BACKGROUND: Despite the adverse consequences of poor sleep during pregnancy, relatively few safe interventions exist for improving sleep among pregnant women. Nonpharmacological interventions are increasingly gaining acceptance. However, the effects of acupressure and acupuncture-like transcutaneous electrical nerve stimulation (ACUTENS) have not been widely reported. OBJECTIVES: The purpose of this study is to investigate the effects of low-frequency transcutaneous electrical nerve stimulation, otherwise known as ACUTENS, and acupressure on sleep quality among pregnant women. METHODS: Purposive sampling of 42 pregnant women with sleep disorders was conducted, and the participants were randomized into 3 groups, i.e., acupressure, ACUTENS, and usual care. interventions, which were carried out twice weekly for six weeks. The Pittsburgh Sleep Quality index was used to determine the overall sleep quality. RESULTS: The preintervention scores of sleep quality were 12.5 (3.75), 12.5 (4.0), and 13.0 (3.5) in the ACUTENS, acupressure, and usual care groups, respectively. The Kruskal-Wallis test did not show any significant difference in the preintervention sleep quality scores (H = 0.379, p = 0.827). Participants in the usual care group recorded the least improvement, with a score of 5.0 (2.25), the ACUTENS group recorded a score of 4.5 (3.0), and the greatest improvement was recorded in the acupressure group, with a score of 4.0 (2.2) after 6 weeks of intervention. The Kruskal-Wallis test did not show any significant difference in the postintervention sleep quality scores among the 3 groups (H = 0.666, p = 0.717). CONCLUSION: This study showed that ACUTENS and acupressure as an adjunct to usual care are not more effective than usual care alone in improving sleep quality among pregnant women.

Cardiovascular Response to Manual Acupuncture Needle Stimulation among Apparently Healthy Nigerian Adults.

This study investigated experience with acupuncture needle stimulation of apparently healthy adult Nigerians and the responses of the systolic blood pressure (SBP), diastolic blood pressure, heart rate (HR), and rate pressure products (RPP) to acupuncture at both real acupuncture points relevant to the treatment of cardiovascular disorder and sham acupuncture points not relevant to the treatment of cardiovascular disorder. Seventy-eight participants were randomly placed into three groups: the real acupuncture group (RAG); the sham acupuncture group (SAG); and the control group, with 26 participants per group. Data were collected preintervention, 15 minutes into acupuncture stimulation, postintervention, and 15 minutes after intervention. Changes (postintervention - preintervention scores) in the SBP, HR, and RPP were statistically lower in the RAG than in the SAG. Changes in the DBP showed a significant difference between the SAG and the RAG (p > 0.05). Findings from this study showed that among apparently healthy Nigerian adults, acupuncture needle stimulation at acupoints relevant to cardiovascular disorders was more effective than sham intervention in reducing the SBP, HR, and RPP. Participants reported heaviness, numbness, and increasing pain, but no dizziness, fainting and/or life-threatening side effects, during and after the acupuncture needle stimulation.