East African Medical Journal

OBJECTIVE: To establish common disasters, preparedness and management in secondary school in Ruiru Division, Kiambu County, Kenya. DESIGN: Descriptive cross-sectional study. SUBJECTS: Out of the target population a hundred and twenty (120) respondents were selected from the students, teachers and the support staff. Eighteen key informants snowballed gave information that augmented the study findings. RESULTS: The respondents did not know how to use the first aid kit elements (= 835...

BACKGROUND: Voluntary Medical Male Circumcision (VMMC) is the surgical removal of all or part of the foreskin from the penis. It is done for medical reasons as it has been shown to reduce the risk of female to male transmission of HIV by up to 60%. It has also been associated with lower transmission of sexually transmitted infections. Voluntary Medical Male Circumcision services have been scaled up in countries with high prevalence, generalised heterosexual HIV epidemics and low rates of male circumcision...

OBJECTIVE: To describe pattern of female genital tract cancers seen at Olabisi Onabanjo University Teaching Hospital (OOUTH), Sagamu, Nigeria. DESIGN: This is a retrospective review of all cases of female genital tract cancers managed at the Gynaecology department of OOUTH, Sagamu, Nigeria. SETTING: OOUTH is a tertiary health institution of the State's university and it takes referrals from within and outside the State. SUBJECTS: Case records of all female genital tract cancers managed between January 2004 and December 2013 were retrieved and analysed using SPSS version 16...

OBJECTIVES: To conduct clinical breast cancer screening in three sites in Western Kenya and explore community barriers to screening uptake. DESIGN: Cross-sectional study. SETTING: Western Kenya specifically, Mosoriot, Turbo, and Kapsokwony. SUBJECTS: Community members (18 years and older) who did not attend the screening events. OUTCOME MEASURE: The outcome measure was having heard about the breast cancer screening events...

BACKGROUND: The screening for cytomegalovirus (CMV) specific antibodies is not routine in our setting, thus the transfusion of blood portends high risk for susceptible individuals. OBJECTIVE: To determine the prevalence of IgG and IgM specific antibodies and associated characteristics in blood donors seen at a referral teaching hospital in Nigeria. DESIGN: Prospective, cross-sectional and descriptive study. SETTING: Blood Bank and Serology Unit of the Department of Haematology and Blood Transfusion, Obafemi Awolowo University Teaching Hospitals' Complex, Ile-Ife, Nigeria...

OBJECTIVES: To determine the pattern of poisoning amongst patients admitted at a paediatric hospital in Nairobi and compare it with that of other hospitals around the world DESIGN: A retrospective hospital based multivariate study. SETTING: Gertrude's Garden Children's Hospital, Nairobi, Kenya. SUBJECTS: Medical records of all children admitted with a diagnosis of poisoning between January 2003 and December 2007. RESULTS: The age range of the study population was birth to 13 years...

BACKGROUND: The ischiopubic index is calculated by dividing the pubic length by the ischial length and multiplying by 100. It has been said to be one of the parameters affecting the pelvic inlet and this is of interest to obstetricians and anatomic anthropologists. OBJECTIVES: To determine and compare the pubic length, ischial length andischiopubic index among the males and females of Isoko and Bini ethnic groups of Nigeria. DESIGN: A retrospective cross sectional study...

BACKGROUND: Health related quality of life (HRQOL) is increasingly being recognised as a primary outcome measure in the treatment of end stage renal disease. In addition to being an important surrogate marker of quality of care in patients on maintenance haemodialysis, HRQOL measures have being shown to be robust predictors of mortality and morbidity. OBJECTIVE: To determine the health related quality of life and its determinants in patients on maintenance haemodialysis at the Kenyatta National Hospital...

OBJECTIVE: To analyse the infection prevention practices in handling of injections by nurses in Rift Valley Provincial Hospital in Kenya. DESIGN: A cross-sectional observational study. SETTING: Rift Valley Provincial hospital which is a level five health facility situated in Nakuru County, Kenya. SUBJECTS: A sample of 386 injection procedures attributed to the nurses in Rift Valley Provincial Hospital was considered for this study...

BACKGROUND: Lack of effective systems and tools to identify and track defaulters are some of the factors that pose challenges in adherence monitoring for patients on anti-retroviral treatment (ART). An intervention was performed to introduce a facility-based appointment keeping system, and a revised clinic form to monitor patients' adherence to ART. OBJECTIVE: To assess facility staff perceptions of, motivation for and self-reported practice in the implementation, and on the use of adherence-based indicators to inform decisions for performance improvement...

OBJECTIVE: To describe the living conditions of rural based people living with HIV/AIDS (PLWHA) and their clinical presentations DESIGN: descriptive cross-sectional study, SETTING: University College Hospital, Ibadan. SUBJECTS: PLWHA on anti-retroviral therapy. RESULTS: One hundred and fifty PLWHA participated. The mean age of the respondents was 28.7 ± 8.9 years. Majority of the respondents visited had advanced disease (97%), were poor (75%) and presented with opportunistic infections such as oral candidiasis (92%), chronic diarrhoea (70%) and pulmonary tuberculosis (46%)...

OBJECTIVE: To assess current knowledge on development and associated structures. DATA SOURCES: Current scientific publications in the pubmed data base on the development of human female urethra were reviewed. The embryology of human female urethra and its associated structures is presented. STUDY SELECTION: The following search words: urethra development, female urethra development, and male urethra development were used. DATA EXTRACTION: The first 100 publications from urethra development search and thereafter 100 publications excluding those in the first search were reviewed to determine whether they described development of female urethra...

OBJECTIVES: To establish the prevalence of cervical cytology abnormalities, determine the correlation between CD4+ cell count and abnormal Pap smear, determine the correlation between WHO-HIV staging and abnormal pap smear among HIV infected women attending HIV clinic at Rwanda Military Hospital. DESIGN: Cross-sectional descriptive study. SETTING: Rwanda Military Hospital Kigali, Rwanda. SUBJECTS: All HIV-positive women, 18-69 years who had been or were sexually active and were attending the HIV-clinic and consented to participate in the study...

BACKGROUND: Reliability and validity studies of different lumbar curvature analysis and measurement techniques have been documented however there is limited literature on the reliability and validity of subjective visual analysis. Radiological assessment of lumbar lordotic curve aids in early diagnosis of conditions even before neurologic changes set in. OBJECTIVE: To ascertain the level of reliability and validity of subjective assessment of lumbar lordosis in conventional radiography...

Rheumatoid arthritis may sometimes present with extra-articular involvement, pulmonary involvement is not common. Rheumatoid arthritis has been reported among Nigerians and extra-articular manifestations are rarely seen. One of the patients was misdiagnosed and mismanaged as a patient with pulmonary tuberculosis. The study is to demonstrate that rheumatoid arthritis is not as rare as previously reported in Nigeria and its pulmonary involvement can mimic tuberculosis or other granulomatous lung disorder. Clinical and serological acumen are necessary to distinguish between the two...

UNLABELLED: Background: very little is known about musculoskeletal features of multiple myeloma (MM) in Africa. OBJECTIVES: To describe the musculoskeletal features of multiple myeloma at presentation in a tertiary health care centre in sub-Saharan Africa. DESIGN: A Cross sectional observational study. SETTING: The Douala General Hospital, Cameroon from 2007 to 2013. SUBJECTS: A patient was said to have MM according the current international consensus criteria for diagnosis and staging of MM...

BACKGROUND: Pre-labour rupture of membranes (PROM) at term is a common event whose management varies from centre to centre. The practice at the Kenyatta National Hospital (KNH) for patients with PROM at term is to initiate delivery of the patient soon on admission with intravenous oxytocin, if there are no contraindications to vaginal delivery. However, in PROM at term, if the cervix is not ripe, vaginal administration of prostaglandin pessaries for cervical ripening is not possible when there is active draining of liquor, thus use of intravenous oxytocin may take a very long time or fail all together...

OBJECTIVES: The Malawi Ministry of Health (MOH) and its immunisation partners conducted a training needs assessment in May 2013 to assess the current status of immunisation training programmemes in health training institutions, to identify unmet training needs, and to recommend possible solutions for training of health workers on a regular basis. DESIGN: A cross-sectional, descriptive study. SETTING: Health training institutions in Malawi, a developing country that does not regularly update its curricula to include new vaccines and management tools, nor train healthcare workers on a regular basis...

BACKGROUND: Most of the nutritional surveys that have been carried out in Kenya have concentrated on children aged five years and below who are under the care of their parent(s). The HIV/AIDS, conflict, natural disasters, endemic diseases such as malaria and tuberculosis and rising poverty has claimed the health and lives of millions of productive adults, leaving their children orphaned and vulnerable. This has led to mushrooming of orphanages to take care of these orphans and vulnerable children in Kenya...

BACKGROUND: Antenatal care (ANC) aims mainly at prevention, early detection and management of general medical and pregnancy associated disorders. Early booking is recommended for maximum utilisation. OBJECTIVE: To investigate the determinants of first ANC visit and trimesters at which pregnant mothers enrol for ANC at the COBERS sites of Northern Uganda. DESIGN: A descriptive cross-sectional study. SETTING: Five community based Education, Research and Service sites (COBERS) of Atiak, Madi Opei, Mungula, Namukora and Pajule health centre, fours (HC IV) in the five respective districts of Amuru, Lamwo, Adjumani, Kitgum and Pader, Northern Uganda, from April to July 2013...