Morbidity Pattern Among Adult Patients at the National Health Insurance Scheme Clinic of a Tertiary Hospital, Southwest Nigeria.

BACKGROUND: For adequate planning of healthcare services, a good knowledge of the burden and pattern of morbidity and mortality in the community is a key requirement. This study aimed at describing the morbidity pattern among patients at a National Health Insurance Scheme (NHIS) clinic in Southwestern Nigeria. METHOD: This was a cross-sectional study. Secondary data was extracted from case notes of 5,108 patients who visited the NHIS Clinic in a tertiary health facility in Southwestern Nigeria, from 2014 to 2018, using the International Classification of Primary Care (ICPC-2) to categorize the diseases. Data analysis was done using IBM SPSS Statistics for Windows, Version 25.0 (Released 2018; IBM Corp., Armonk, NY, USA). RESULT: Females were 2,741 (53.7%), males were 2367 (46.3%), and the mean age was 36.7±9.5 years. General and unspecified diseases were the commonest presentations. Malaria (1,268; 45.5%) was the commonest disease among the patients. Sex and age were associated with disease distribution (p-value = 0.001). CONCLUSION: Public health preventive strategies and measures should be undertaken to address the priority diseases as shown in this study.

Uncovering the Burden of Diabetes in Ekiti State, Nigeria: Insights From a Statewide, Household-Based, Cross-Sectional Study.

INTRODUCTION: Diabetes mellitus (DM) is an important global public health challenge, and the burden of the disease is huge, particularly in low- and middle-income countries (LMICs), where the majority of people with this condition reside. Undiagnosed DM is more prevalent in LMICs. The aim of this study is to determine the prevalence and associated factors for DM in Ekiti State. MATERIALS AND METHODS: A cross-sectional, household-based survey using a four-stage multistage sampling design and the World Health Organization (WHO)-STEPS survey manual was conducted from July to September 2020 as a part of the Ekiti State coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) survey. Of the 5,145 sampled households, 4,726 individuals gave consent to participate in the survey. Out of these, 3043 had fasting plasma glucose results available and were included in the analysis. RESULTS: There were 2257 (74.2%) women and 786 (25.8%) men. The prevalence of DM was 6.5% (6.5% in males and 6.6% in females, P = 0.946). Diabetes was found to be more prevalent among those with a secondary school education or higher (10.9%); employed in the formal sector (13.4%); separated, divorced, or widowed (8.5%); with raised blood pressure (9.3%); and who were aged 30-59 years (all P < 0.05). Multivariable logistic regression showed that age, education, occupation, and hypertension were all positively and significantly associated with an increased risk of DM. CONCLUSION: The prevalence of DM in Ekiti State is high, and its predictors include advancing age, hypertension, education, and occupation. This calls for scaling up public health interventions for controlling DM, targeting the identified risk factors among the people of Ekiti.