Research Article
Awareness, Perception and Preventive Practices About Environmental Risk Factors Associated with Neurodegenerative Diseases Among Geriatric Patients in a Tertiary Hospital, Ibadan
Adejumo Mumuni*
,
Idowu Emmanuel Ayotomiwa
Issue:
Volume 13, Issue 4, August 2025
Pages:
165-176
Received:
20 May 2025
Accepted:
17 June 2025
Published:
9 July 2025
Abstract: Environmental risk factors have been implicated in the pathogenesis of neurodegenerative diseases (NDDs) conditions, particularly among the elderly. In Nigeria, the elderly population is steadily increasing while there is limited information on awareness, perception and preventive practices regarding these environmental risks. Therefore, this study was conducted to document the awareness, perception and preventive practices about environmental risk factors associated with NDDs among the elderly attending geriatric clinic in a tertiary hospital, Ibadan. A cross-sectional study was conducted among the 217 consented elderly aged 60 years and above attending Chief Tony Anenih Geriatric Centre, University College Hospital (UCH), Ibadan. A validated interviewer administered questionnaire was used to collect data. Data were analyzed using descriptive statistics and Chi-square test with level of significant set at 0.05. Respondents’ mean age was 73.8±8.7 years, 61.3% were female, 59.4% had tertiary education while 78.8% were living in their own house. All (100%) had heard about neurodegenerative diseases while the three major environmental risk factors reported were heavy metal exposure (79.7%), pesticides exposure (74.2%) and households’ toxins (70.5%). The mean perception score was 7.7±1.3, 80.6% had positive perceptions about environmental risk factors associated with neurodegenerative diseases. Some of the preventive practices reported by the respondents were purchasing eco-friendly household products (59.9%) and the use of non-toxic households’ products (58.1%). The mean preventive practice score was 6.9±0.9, 60.2% engaged in unhealthy practices. Respondent’s ages (χ2 = 22.621; p=<0.001), house ownership (χ2 = 4.061; p=0.034) and perception regarding environmental risk factors (χ2 = 6.448; p=0.027) were associated with respondents’ preventive practices. The three major reported barriers against preventive practice were limited access to health resources (100.0%), physical limitation (64.6%) and lack of awareness of risks (53.5%). Majority of the respondents were aware and had positive perception about environmental risk factors associated with neurodegenerative diseases, but engaged in unhealthy preventive practices. There is need for interventions focusing on environmental risk reduction to mitigate the burden of neurodegenerative diseases among the elderly in Nigeria.
Abstract: Environmental risk factors have been implicated in the pathogenesis of neurodegenerative diseases (NDDs) conditions, particularly among the elderly. In Nigeria, the elderly population is steadily increasing while there is limited information on awareness, perception and preventive practices regarding these environmental risks. Therefore, this study...
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Research Article
Superiority of Three Directly Observed Treatment Compared to One Directly Observed Treatment in the Seasonal Malaria Chemoprevention in Children Aged Under Five in Burkina Faso: A Quasi-Experimental Trial
Issue:
Volume 13, Issue 4, August 2025
Pages:
177-188
Received:
28 May 2025
Accepted:
18 June 2025
Published:
18 July 2025
DOI:
10.11648/j.sjph.20251304.12
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Abstract: The implementation of seasonal malaria chemoprevention (SMC) in Burkina Faso has not achieved its objective of reducing by at least 60% the morbidity associated with malaria in children under 5 years of age. We assessed a new approach of delivery consisting for the community health workers to directly supervise the three doses of the treatment compared to the standard of delivery (only the first dose directly observed treatment). The objective of the study was to compare the superiority of three doses supervised intake of SMC (3DOT) to the supervised intake of the first dose only. Three centers for health and social promotion were randomly selected in the Gaoua health district (3DOT) and 4 in the Boromo health district (1DOT) to receive a monthly four rounds of SMC with Sulfadoxine-pyrimethamine plus Amodiaquine (SP+AQ) in a quasi-experimental cluster randomized trial, before-after with a control group design which included in total 2440 children. The primary endpoint was the reduction in prevalence between each SMC round. The Khi-2 test was used to assess the superiority of 3DOT versus 1DOT. The reduction of malaria prevalence was significantly higher in 3DOT compared to the 1DOT, 68.60% vs 53.00% (p<.0001). The coverage in the 3DOT was significantly lower than that in the 1DOT, 81.39% versus 95.72%; p<0.0001 for optimal coverage. The 3DOT delivery approach of SMC provides better reduction of malaria prevalence than the 1DOT. However, the lower coverage obtained with the 3DOT compared to the 1DOT is a concerning issue to overcome in the perspective of the scale-up of this strategy at large scale.
Abstract: The implementation of seasonal malaria chemoprevention (SMC) in Burkina Faso has not achieved its objective of reducing by at least 60% the morbidity associated with malaria in children under 5 years of age. We assessed a new approach of delivery consisting for the community health workers to directly supervise the three doses of the treatment comp...
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