Psychological Distress, Drug Use, and Internet Use: The Association with Poor Sleep Quality in a Sample of Secondary School Students.

Sleep problems are common among children and adolescents. Sleep quality plays a significant role in their mental health. We aimed to determine the prevalence of poor sleep quality (PSQ) among secondary school students, identify sociodemographic factors associated with PSQ in this group, and examine the independent associations of psychological distress, stimulant use, and internet use with PSQ. Data were collected from 420 secondary school students from four different schools who were selected using a mixture of convenience and random sampling. A set of questionnaires was administered to collect data, and it consisted of 5 sections measuring: the sociodemographic, drug use, psychological distress, internet use, and sleep quality. A total of 378 questionnaires were analyzed. The participants comprised 174 (46.2%) males and 203 (53.8%) females who were between 10 and 21 years. The mean age was 14.78 years. The prevalence of those who had PSQ was 12.2%. A logistic regression model showed that anxiety (AOR = 1.20, 95% CI: 1.10-1.32), depression (AOR = 1.12, 95% CI: 1.00-1.25), and internet use (AOR = 1.02, 95% CI: 1.00-1.03) were significantly associated with PSQ. PSQ commonly exists among students and has a relationship with their psychological state and potentially addictive behavior, such as internet use. We prescribed the optimal treatment of psychological disorders and addictive behavior, of which sleep problems are a typical fallout.

Drug treatment presentations at a treatment centre in southern Nigeria (2015-2018): Findings and implications for policy and practice.

INTRODUCTION: Recent evidence suggests that rates of drug use and abuse in Nigeria exceed the global average. There is a strong treatment demand for psychoactive drug use disorders in Nigeria; however, it is not known whether available treatment facilities are attending to the array of treatment needs. This audit compares the pattern of presentations at a tertiary facility with a community-based survey. METHODS: A review of cases (n = 212) seen at a regional drug treatment facility over a 4-year period, using local data retrieved from the Nigerian Epidemiological Network of Drug Use (NENDU) and comparison with data from the recently published national drug use survey. RESULTS: Nine out of ten clients seen were male (93.4%). About half (49.5%) of the clients used psychoactive substances for the first time between ages 10 and 19 years. Cannabis was the primary drug of use overall and also among males, while females were more likely to present with opiate abuse. Over half had a co-occurring physical or mental disorder, and a minority had received testing for hepatitis C in the past 12 months. CONCLUSION: Although patterns of drug abuse presentations were consistent with findings from a national community-based survey, there was an under-representation of females in treatment. Implications for policy development and practice are discussed.

Gender and other risk factors associated with risky behaviours among Nigerian adolescents.

Risky behaviours in adolescents, apart from substance use, and their associate factors, have not been thoroughly investigated in Nigeria. Hence, there is a need to study the prevalence of risky behaviours and their relationship with gender and other potential risk factors. Data comprising socio-demographic, risky behaviours, personality traits, religious orientation and substance use were obtained from 300 randomly selected secondary school students. Two risk groups (low and high) based on the number of risky behaviours were determined. Male was a risk factor for theft (OR = 2.1; 95%CI = 1.17-3.95), bullying (OR = 2.76; 95%CI = 1.37-5.56) and fighting (OR = 2.14; 95%CI = 1.35-3.40). Fifty-two (17.3%) of the students were of high-risk behaviour group. Furthermore, private school (ß = 1.05; P = 0.010), poor perceived relationship with teachers (ß = 1.21; P = 0.002), polygamy (ß = 1.20; P = 0.002) and lifetime cigarette use (ß = 1.07; P = 0.027) were predictors of high-risk behaviour group. Substantial proportion of adolescents in Nigeria exhibit risky behaviours of which gender and other factors play a significant role.

Social consequences of epilepsy: a study of 231 Nigerian patients.

BACKGROUND: Epilepsy is the commonest neurological disorder and majority of the sufferers are found in the developing countries. It is associated with psychological and social problems. The aim of this study was to determine the social difficulties experienced by epileptic patients and the factors that are associated with these difficulties. METHODS: Two hundred and thirty-one consecutive epileptic patients who were of age 10 years and above, and who had no co-morbid major psychiatric disorder, seen over a 6-month period at the outpatient clinic of Federal Neuro-psychiatric Hospital, Kaduna, were interviewed. We used an instrument designed for the purpose of this study, which focused on people's attitudes to epilepsy, relationship/marital, employment and academic problems. RESULTS: The mean age of the subjects was 28 +/- 13.2 years; 59.3% were males; 44.6% said people make negative remarks about their illness; 14.1% have been denied leadership role; 36.4% were irregular at work; 37.3% performed poorly at work; 22.5% have had their marriage proposals rejected; 19.5% have been abandoned by spouse. At least 39.4% had poor academic performance while 19.5% were withdrawn from school because of epilepsy. Short seizure-free period, long duration of seizure disorder and family history of epilepsy were significantly associated with social problems. CONCLUSION: Social difficulties are common among epileptics. Effort should be made to educate the society about epilepsy, and physicians treating patients with epilepsy should aim at achieving a good seizure control.