Quality of sleep and psychological distress in glaucoma

Background: People living with glaucoma are psychologically burdened because of the threat of visual loss. Therefore, understanding the psychosocial issues and quality of sleep holds important implications for the recognition, prevention, and treatment of emotional problems among people with glaucoma. This study investigated the quality of sleep and psychological distress among people with glaucoma.Methods: This was a cross-sectional study of adults recruited over a period of 12 weeks from a glaucoma clinic of a Teaching Hospital in south-west Nigeria. The quality of sleep and psychological distress were evaluated using the Pittsburgh Sleep Quality Index and General Health Questionnaire respectively.Results: Ninety-three adults with glaucoma participated in the study. The mean age was 62.33 ± 15.25 years. Fifty-seven (61.3%) of the subjects were poor sleepers while 27 (29.0%) were psychologically distressed. Psychological distress correlated with global sleep score (r = 0.399, p = 0.000), subjective sleep quality (r = 0.341, p = 0.001), sleep latency (r = 0.245, p = 0.018) and sleep disturbance (r = 0.279, p = 0.007).Conclusion: Psychological distress and sleep disturbances were common among patients with glaucoma. Concerns about these issues should be incorporated into routine clinical evaluations of patients with glaucoma

A survey of perceived stress, intimidation, harassment and well-being of resident doctors in a Nigerian Teaching Hospital.

OBJECTIVE: Stress levels of residency are under-reported in Nigeria despite the importance of well-being during residency training. We investigated the level of perceived stress, intimidation/harassment, mental health and well being among resident doctors. METHODS: This was a cross sectional questionnaire survey of all residents in training in a Nigerian teaching hospital located in south western part ofNigeria. RESULTS: The response rate was 80.6% (58 out of 72). Forty three (74.1%) of the respondents were males. The mean age was 35.7 +/- 2.8 years (range = 31-43 yeas). The mean number of working hours was 8.8/ hours/week. Fifty percent of residents reported their life was stressful. There were gender differences in conditions like work situation, residency programme, employment status, personal and family safety, caring for children and discrimination in favour of men. Some residents resorted to the use of alcohol (5.2%), cigarette (1.7%), drugs and medications (8.6%) to handle stress. A greater majority of the residents (61.4%) would pursue another career if they had to do it all over, while 34.5% would consider changing to another teaching hospital for their residency. Many residents reported experiencing intimidation and harassment. Eighteen (31%) of the residents admitted to have had emotional or mental health problems during the residency program. About 29% will require further screening for depression, 21.6% for panic disorder, 15.8% for generalized anxiety, 9.3% for social phobia and 8.8% for agoraphobia. The study design however did not allow prediction of proportion of individuals who had mental challenges, nor allow comparison of such rates to the normal population in the country. CONCLUSION: Many residents experience significant stressors and intimidation/harassment, some of which differ among gender. This study can serve as a pilot for future research, resource application and advocacy for overall improvements of the well-being of residents in training.

A rapid situation assessment of sexual risk behaviour of alcohol users in Lagos, Nigeria.

BACKGROUND: National sentinel surveys of HIV/AIDS among pregnant women in Nigeria have shown steady rise in prevalence from 1991 (1.8%) to 2001 (5.8%), which may reflect the pattern in the adult population in the country. The roles of known potential risk factors of the HIV/AIDS scourge in Nigeria deserve elucidation. This work aims to study the relationship between alcohol use and sexual risk behaviour. PATIENTS AND METHODS: Rapid assessment technique involving qualitative and quantitative methods was employed. A multi-site design which made it possible to compare samples recruited in high and low density settings was used. RESULTS: One hundred and nine of the alcohol users were recruited in the Low Density Area (LDA), while 130 were recruited in the High Density Area (HDA). In the HDA, 49 (53%) of the beer users used alcohol before sex either most or all of the time 21 (22.6%), or occasionally 28 (29.1%). Unlike the beer users less than half, 8 (42.1%), of Palm wine drinkers drank alcohol before sex. Beer users in the HDA used beer after sex with casual partners significantly more than the Palm wine drinkers (P = 0.036). Alcohol users in the LDA were more inclined to casual sex and they (54, 56.8%) believed that it had some or major role in their desire as well as performance of sex compared with users in the HDA (P = 0.005). CONCLUSION: Irrespective of their socioeconomic class, ethnicity, religion and educational attainment alcohol users in the country indulge in high risk sexual behaviours that predispose them to infection with HIV and other sexually transmitted diseases.