Hearing loss among inmates of a juvenile correctional facility in Nigeria

Background

Good hearing is essential to learning and rehabilitation of adolescent and young adults in juvenile correctional facilities. Hearing screening programme is not commonly in place for this incarcerated group.

Objective

To evaluate hearing threshold among inmates of a juvenile correctional facility in Nigeria and compare pattern of hearing loss with a control group.

Methods

A total of 135 inmates and equal number of age and sex matched control responded to interviewer-administered questionnaire followed by otoscopy and audiometry.

Results

Mean age of inmates was 19 years ±2.0, while that of control was 18yrs ± 2.5. (p-value 0.077). Four (3%) inmates had bleeding from the ear; otoscopy revealed traumatic tympanic membrane perforation in 2(1.5%) of them. Prevalence of hearing loss was 19.2% and for disabling hearing loss it was 1.4%. Conductive hearing loss was the most common 33(24.4%). Inmates had consistently worse mean hearing thresholds than controls across all frequencies tested in both ears (p-value <0.001).

Conclusion

Hearing loss is prevalent among inmates of juvenile correctional facility. Rehabilitation programme should be balanced with detail attention to health needs of inmates; including pre-admission and periodic hearing screening.

Coping strategies among patients attending HIV clinics in a North-central State of Nigeria

Background

Nigeria ranks third among the countries with the highest HIV/AIDS burden in the world, next only to India and South Africa. The North-Central zone which Kwara State belongs to has the highest concentration of HIV prevalence rate of 7.5%, while the North-Western zone recorded the lowest prevalence of 2.1%; Kwara state has a prevalence rate of 2.2%.

Aims

The study assessed the coping strategies adopted by patients attending HIV clinics in a North-central city of Nigeria.

Methods

The study design was descriptive cross-sectional involving 384 HIV-positive patients who were systematically recruited at 5 public service delivery sites in Ilorin- a North-central city, Nigeria was used for the study. Coping strategies were measured using the Brief COPE scale. Data were analyzed using SPSS software version 20.0. Level of significance was pre-determined at P value <0.05 at a confidence level of 95%.

Results

Female respondents constituted 222 (58.0%) while males were 162 (42.0%). Respondents experienced varying proportion of coping strategies of which Self-distraction 288 (75.0%), active coping 249 (64.8%), emotional support 228 (59.4%), among others were the major strategies adopted by respondents.

Conclusion

HIV is a chronic disease with heavy burden on both patients and health facility rendering services for the care of these patients. A good proportion of respondents interviewed adopted varying coping strategies. Sustained social and psychological support will improve further the coping strategies of living with HIV.