Menstrual hygiene practices of adolescent secondary school girls in rural Anambra communities.

BACKGROUND: Adolescent girls face numerous challenges which hinder their ability to manage menstruation in a healthy and dignified manner. OBJECTIVES: To examine the menstrual hygiene practices of adolescent girls schooling in rural Anambra communities. STUDY DESIGN: Cross-sectional descriptive study. METHOD: Participants were selected using multistage stratified random sampling technique and interviewed using self-administered semi-structured questionnaire. Data were analysed using Statistical Package for Social Sciences version 22.0. RESULTS: Mean age of all, pre-menarche and post-menarche girls were 14.7 ± 1.84, 12.8 ± 1.09 and 15.1 ± 1.73 years, respectively. About 46% of the pre-menarche girls had not received any information on menstruation. Common sources of initial menstruation information were mother (87.3%), school (52.2%) and peers (20.0%). Among the 1091 (85.0% (1091/1283)) post-menarche girls, last menstrual period, last menstrual period duration and cycle length could not be recalled by 53.9%, 34.4% and 39.3%, respectively. Majority (98.3%) who could recall last menstrual period had a cycle length of ⩽30 days and the mean duration of menses was 4.4 ± 0.84 days. Disposable sanitary pad was mostly (60%) cited as recommended product, but cloth/rags (40.6%) or tissue paper (32. 3%) were predominantly used. Majority (88.6%) took their bath ⩾twice/day, 50.9% changed sanitary product ⩽twice/day while 72.5% exhibited poor hand washing. Sanitary products were mostly discarded by burning (45.4%). Fifty-one percent could not change in school predominantly due to lack of functional toilets/changing rooms (84.2%) while 72.5% of those who changed did so in bushes or unused spaces. Challenges faced during menstruation include restriction from holy places (38.9%), waist pain (74.9%), blood stains (36.1%) and lack of money to buy pad (27.0%). Factors significantly associated with using commercial pads were age (p = 0.047), class (p = 0.006), mother's educational status (p < 0.001), social class (p < 0.001), ability to recall last menstrual period date (p = 0.029) or duration (p = 0.001). CONCLUSION: Menstrual hygiene management was unsatisfactory among studied adolescents. Continuous education of adolescent girls on menstrual hygiene management and advocacy for adequate menstrual hygiene management support are imperative.

Acceptability rate and barriers to COVID-19 vaccination among healthcare workers in Chukwuemeka Odumegwu Ojukwu University Teaching Hospital, Amaku-Awka, Nigeria.

Background: Healthcare workers were at the forefront of the COVID-19 pandemic. The acceptability and uptake of COVID-19 vaccines among healthcare workers was an important strategy in halting the spread of the virus as well as the antecedent implications on global health and the world economy. Objectives: This study aims to determine the acceptability rate and barriers to COVID-19 vaccination of frontline healthcare workers in Awka, Nigeria. Design: This is an analytical cross-sectional study. Methods: An online cross-sectional survey was conducted from February 2022 to April 2022 to obtain the data for this study. One hundred healthcare workers were studied. Acceptability rate and barriers to uptake of COVID-19 vaccination were outcome measures. Results: The COVID-19 vaccination rate was 45.0% among healthcare workers in study area of Awka metropolis. Ages 30-39 years had the highest acceptance rate of COVID-19 vaccination, 19 (47.5%; p = 0.262) with a more female preponderance of COVID-19 vaccine acceptance compared to males [26 (41.3%) vs 16 (42.2%), p = 0.721]. The place of residence of respondents (urban vs rural) and their marital status (married vs single) appeared not to influence the acceptance of COVID-19 vaccination [(38 (42.2%) vs 3 (33.3%); p = 0.667; 25 (36.8% vs 17 (54.8%); p = 0.433)]. Years of work experience (<10 years vs >10 years) significantly affected COVID-19 vaccine acceptance [27 (45.8%) vs 12 (52.2%); p = 0.029]. Educational status and monthly income appeared not to influence vaccine uptake (p > 0.05, for both). A significant number of respondents were not sure why they should or should not take the COVID-19 vaccine [49 (92.5%) vs 35 (83.3%); p = 0.001]. Conclusion: The COVID-19 vaccination rate is still poor among healthcare workers in Awka metropolis. The majority of respondents do not know why they should or should not take COVID-19 vaccine. We therefore recommend robust awareness campaigns that will explain in clear terms the essence and efficacy of COVID-19 vaccination in order to improve vaccine acceptance.

Internet addiction during the COVID-19 pandemic among adolescents in southeast Nigeria and implications for adolescent care in the post-pandemic era: A cross-sectional study.

Objectives: This study aimed to determine the prevalence and associated factors of internet addiction amongst adolescents in Southeast Nigeria during the coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) era. Methods: A cross-sectional study was carried out in 10 randomly selected secondary schools, 2 (one urban and one rural) each from Abia, Anambra, Ebonyi Enugu and Imo states of southeastern Nigeria between July and August 2021. Data on demographic variables were collected using a structured self-administered questionnaire. Young's Internet Addiction Test was used to assess the extent of internet use. Analysis was done using the IBM SPSS Statistics version 23. The level of significance was set at a p-value of <0.05. Results: The mean age of the respondents was 16.2 ± 1.8 years and the male: female ratio was 1:1.6. Most of the adolescents (61.1%) used the internet for academic purposes, while 32.8% used it for social interactions and the majority (51.5%) used their phones. The prevalence of internet addiction was 88.1% (24.9% had mild, 59.6% had moderate, while 3.6% had severe addiction) and a good proportion of the respondents (81.1%) perceived addiction as bad. Internet addiction was significantly associated with the respondent's age (p = 0.043), mother's level of education (p = 0.023), family size (p = 0.021), place of residence (p = 0.035), alcohol intake (p = 0.017), smoking (p = 0.015), substance use (p = 0.001) as well as the duration of internet use (p < 0.001). Internet addiction was predicted by the male gender (adjusted odds ratio (AOR): 2.054; confidence interval (CI): 1.200-3.518), early adolescent age group (10-13 years) (AOR: 0.115; C1: 0.015-0.895) as well as the duration of internet use (AOR: 0.301; CI: 0.189-0.479). Conclusions: The prevalence of internet addiction among adolescents during the COVID-19 pandemic era was high. The predictors of addiction were the male gender, early adolescent age group and duration of internet use.

COVID-19 infection: Knowledge, attitude, practices, and impact among healthcare workers in a South-Eastern Nigerian state.

INTRODUCTION: The coronavirus disease (COVID-19) infection rate and mortality among Nigerian health care workers appear to be on the increase. This study determined the level of knowledge, attitude, practices, and impact of COVID-19 infection on healthcare workers (HCWs) working in a South-Eastern Nigerian state. METHODOLOGY: This was a web-based, cross-sectional study conducted among healthcare workers in South-eastern, Nigeria during the lockdown period. Socio-demographic profile, knowledge of COVID-19, fears and impact concerning COVID-19, attitude of health workers to work, preventive practices during this pandemic period were obtained. Data were analysed using STATA 16.0. Chi-square and Fisher's exact tests of association were used to determine the association between variables, with the significance level set at p < 0.05. RESULTS: A total of 403 health care workers participated in the study. Majority of participants (n = 357, 88.59%) had good knowledge and good preventive practices (n = 328, 81.39%) of COVID-19. A significant proportion of respondents had a poor attitude to work (n = 101, 25.06%) and an attitude of indifference (n = 233, 57.82%). Almost half (48.64%) of participants had been negatively affected by COVID-19. Knowledge significantly influenced practice (p = 0.029). Lack of Personal protective equipment, fear of dying and going to common places, had a significant impact on the attitude of workers. CONCLUSION: Good knowledge which influenced practice, high use of preventive practices, with associated poor and indifferent attitude was noted among healthcare workers. Fear of death and lack of personal protective equipment had a strong impact on attitude. Female HCWs had poorer attitude to work than males.

COVID-19 infection: Knowledge, attitude, practices, and impact among healthcare workers in a South-Eastern Nigerian state

Introduction: The coronavirus disease (COVID-19) infection rate and mortality among Nigerian health care workers appear to be on the increase. This study determined the level of knowledge, attitude, practices, and impact of COVID-19 infection on healthcare workers (HCWs) working in a South-Eastern Nigerian state.Methodology: This was a web-based, cross-sectional study conducted among healthcare workers in South-eastern, Nigeria during the lockdown period. Socio-demographic profile, knowledge of COVID-19, fears and impact concerning COVID-19, attitude of health workers to work, preventive practices during this pandemic period were obtained. Data were analysed using STATA 16.0. Chi-square and Fisher's exact tests of association were used to determine the association between variables, with the significance level set at p < 0.05. Results: A total of 403 health care workers participated in the study. Majority of participants (n = 357, 88.59%) had good knowledge and good preventive practices (n = 328, 81.39%) of COVID-19. A significant proportion of respondents had a poor attitude to work (n = 101, 25.06%) and an attitude of indifference (n = 233, 57.82%). Almost half (48.64%) of participants had been negatively affected by COVID-19. Knowledge significantly influenced practice (p = 0.029). Lack of Personal protective equipment, fear of dying and going to common places, had a significant impact on the attitude of workers. Conclusion: Good knowledge which influenced practice, high use of preventive practices, with associated poor and indifferent attitude was noted among healthcare workers. Fear of death and lack of personal protective equipment had a strong impact on attitude. Female HCWs had poorer attitude to work than males