Suicidal Behavior and Associations with Quality of Life among HIV-Infected Patients in Ibadan, Nigeria.

BACKGROUND: Suicidality has rarely been studied in HIV-infected patients in sub-Saharan Africa. This study explored suicidal behavior in a clinic sample of people living with HIV, in Nigeria. METHODS: Consecutive patients were interviewed using the Composite International Diagnostic Interview (CIDI-10.0) and the World Health Organization Quality of Life (WHO-QOL-HIV-BREF). Associations of suicidal behavior were explored using logistic regression models. RESULTS: In this sample of 828 patients (71% female, mean age 41.3 ± 10 years), prevalence of suicidal behaviors were 15.1%, 5.8%, and 3.9% for suicidal ideation, plans, and attempts, respectively. Women were more likely than men to report suicidal ideation (odds ratio 1.7; 95% confidence interval 1.05-2.64). Depression and/or anxiety disorder was associated with increased odds of all suicidal behaviors. Suicidal behavior was associated with significantly lower overall and domain scores on the WHO-QOL. CONCLUSION: Suicidal behaviors were common and significantly associated with the presence of mental disorders and lower quality of life.

Level of awareness of mammography among women attending outpatient clinics in a teaching hospital in Ibadan, South-West Nigeria.

BACKGROUND: Mammography has been used in developed countries with considerable success but very little is known about this imaging modality in low resource settings. This study examined the level of awareness of mammography and determined factors influencing the level of awareness. METHODS: We conducted a hospital based cross sectional study to investigate the level of awareness of mammography among 818 randomly selected women attending the General Outpatient clinics (GOP) of the University College Hospital (UCH), Ibadan, Nigeria. Independent predictors of level of awareness of mammography were identified using multiple logistic regression analysis. RESULTS: The proportion of women who ever heard of mammography was 5%, and they demonstrated poor knowledge of the procedure. Those with primary or secondary levels of education were about three times less likely to be aware of mammography when compared with those with tertiary level of education (OR = 0.3, 95% CI, 0.12 - 0.73). Also, participation in community breast cancer prevention activities (OR = 3.4, 95% CI, 1.39 - 8.36), and previous clinical breast examination (OR = 2.34, 95% CI, 1.10 - 4.96) independently predicted mammography awareness. Newspapers and magazines appeared to be the most important sources of information about mammography screening. CONCLUSION: The level of awareness of mammography is poor among women attending outpatient clinics in the studied population. Interventions promoting awareness of this screening procedure should give particular attention to the illiterate and older women while clinicians performing breast examinations should utilize the opportunity to inform women about the mammography procedure. Promotion of educational articles on breast cancer and its screening methods via media remains vital for the literate.