Health Insurance Knowledge, Attitude and the Uptake of Community-Based Health Insurance Scheme among Residents of a Suburb in Lagos, Nigeria.

BACKGROUND: Out of pocket payment for health services in the midst of financial hardship is a major contributor to poor access to healthcare in Nigeria with the resultant poor health indices. Towards the goal of Universal Health Coverage, Community Based Health Insurance (CBHI) was introduced in addition to the National Health Insurance Scheme but with minimal impact and utilization. OBJECTIVE: The objective of this study was to assess health insurance-related knowledge and attitudes and to examine the uptake of CBHI. METHODS: This was a descriptive cross-sectional study. A multi-stage sampling method was used to select 419 respondents from the Ajeromi-Ifelodun community. A semi-structured interviewer-administered questionnaire was used to collect data for the study. Data analysis was done using Microsoft Excel and Epi-Info 7.1. RESULTS: Most of the respondents (80.2%) had not heard of Community-Based Health Insurance and only about 9% of respondents had good knowledge about it. However, most (62.5%) of the respondents had a positive attitude towards health insurance generally. Only 4.5% of the respondents were enrolled in the CBHI scheme and had paid their premium up to date. There was a significant association between the respondents' knowledge and their uptake of the scheme (<0.001), and also between their attitudes and uptake (p = 0.002). CONCLUSION: This study suggests that for CBHI to be successful, certain strategies must be implemented towards increasing awareness and knowledge about CBHI. This will in turn increase the uptake of the scheme, a necessary requirement for achieving the goal of Universal Health Coverage.

Physicians' compliance with malaria treatment guidelines of under-five children in a secondary maternal and child care centre in Lagos State

Background: The global malaria agenda has the ultimate goal of eliminating malaria in all countries of the world by 2030 through universal access to malaria prevention, diagnosis and treatment. Presumptive treatment of malaria with Artemisinin Combination Therapy (ACT) has been associated with the development of resistance, therefore parasitological confirmation of all fevers is crucial in the context of eliminating malaria. This study assessed physicians' compliance with the national guidelines in the treatment of malaria among under-five (U-5) children and their prescription pattern in a Maternal and Child Care (MCC) centre in Lagos State. Methods: This was a descriptive cross-sectional study conducted as an exit interview among 427 mothers/caregivers of febrile U-5 children who were consecutively sampled.The data was collected using a pre-tested interviewer-administered questionnaire and a proforma. Epi-info version 7.2.1 was used to analyze the data and the level of significance was set as p<0.05. Results: Malaria Rapid Diagnostic Test (mRDT) was done for 75 17.6%) of the children and 37 (49.3%) was positive. Anti-malarial drugs were prescribed at consultation to 400 (93.7%) of the febrile children. Artemisinin Combination Therapy (ACT) was prescribed for 364 (91.0%) of the children. The most prescribed ACT was Artemether-Lumefantrine (AL) in 222 (60. 9%).Conclusion: The physician's compliance with malaria treatment guidelines for febrile illnesses in U-5 children was poor with regards to parasitological confirmation before treatment. However, the use of ACTs was adhered to in almost all cases. Regular training workshops are recommended for health workers to improve adherence to parasitological confirmation before treatment

Physicians' compliance with malaria treatment guidelines of under-five children in a secondary maternal and child care centre in Lagos State

Background: The global malaria agenda has the ultimate goal of eliminating malaria in all countries of the world by 2030 through universal access to malaria prevention, diagnosis and treatment. Presumptive treatment of malaria with Artemisinin Combination Therapy (ACT) has been associated with the development of resistance, therefore parasitological confirmation of all fevers is crucial in the context of eliminating malaria. This study assessed physicians' compliance with the national guidelines in the treatment of malaria among under-five (U-5) children and their prescription pattern in a Maternal and Child Care (MCC) centre in Lagos State. Methods: This was a descriptive cross-sectional study conducted as an exit interview among 427 mothers/caregivers of febrile U-5 children who were consecutively sampled.The data was collected using a pre-tested interviewer-administered questionnaire and a proforma. Epi-info version 7.2.1 was used to analyze the data and the level of significance was set as p<0.05. Results: Malaria Rapid Diagnostic Test (mRDT) was done for 75 17.6%) of the children and 37 (49.3%) was positive. Anti-malarial drugs were prescribed at consultation to 400 (93.7%) of the febrile children. Artemisinin Combination Therapy (ACT) was prescribed for 364 (91.0%) of the children. The most prescribed ACT was Artemether-Lumefantrine (AL) in 222 (60.9%). Conclusion: The physician's compliance with malaria treatment guidelines for febrile illnesses in U-5 children was poor with regards to parasitological confirmation before treatment. However, the use of ACTs was adhered to in almost all cases. Regular training workshops are recommended for health workers to improve adherence to parasitological confirmation before treatment

Health-Related Quality of Life of the Elderly in Institutional Care and Non-Institutional Care in Southwestern Nigeria: A Comparative Study.

BACKGROUND: The world population is rapidly ageing and people aged 60 years and above are growing faster than any other age group. In Africa, the most rapid growth of older persons is expected in Western and Northern Africa. STUDY DESIGN: This was a comparative cross-sectional study of a total of 360 respondents. A multi-stage sampling method was used in selecting 240 respondents in the non-institutional group while all the respondents (120) in the institutional group were included in the study. The data was collected using a pre-tested, semi-structured, interviewer administered quality of life questionnaire (SF-36). Data analysis was done using SPSS version 17. RESULTS: The respondents in the institutional group were older with a mean age of 78.7±8.8 years as compared to 70.1±8.2 years in the non-institutional group. The mean Health-Related Quality of Life (HRQOL) score was higher (64.5±15.6) in the non-institutional group than in the institutional group (52.6±15.7) and this was statistically significant (p<0.001). After controlling for the effect of other variables, the respondents who belonged to the non-institutional group (OR=2.37, p=0.018); who were female (OR=2.00, p=0.019); engaged in work (OR=4.93, p=0.009) and had no co-morbid condition (OR=7.58, p<0.001) were significantly more likely to have good HRQOL. CONCLUSION: The non-institutional group had better HRQOL than the institutional group in all the domains except in the body pain domain. It is recommended that programs are tailored to the needs of the elderly in institutions and should be targeted towards improving their quality of life and well-being.