BackgroundAccurate assessment of physical activity is important in determining the risk for chronic diseases such as cardiovascular disease, stroke, type 2 diabetes, cancer and obesity. The absence of culturally relevant measures in indigenous languages could pose challenges to epidemiological studies on physical activity in developing countries. The purpose of this study was to translate and cross-culturally adapt the Short International Physical Activity Questionnaire (IPAQ-SF) to the Hausa language, and to evaluate the validity and reliability of the Hausa version of IPAQ-SF in Nigeria.MethodsThe English IPAQ-SF was translated into the Hausa language, synthesized, back translated, and subsequently subjected to expert committee review and pre-testing. The final product (Hausa IPAQ-SF) was tested in a cross-sectional study for concurrent (correlation with the English version) and construct validity, and test-retest reliability in a sample of 102 apparently healthy adults.ResultsThe Hausa IPAQ-SF has good concurrent validity with Spearman correlation coefficients (ρ) ranging from 0.78 for vigorous activity (Min Week-1) to 0.92 for total physical activity (Metabolic Equivalent of Task [MET]-Min Week-1), but poor construct validity, with cardiorespiratory fitness (ρ = 0.21, p = 0.01) and body mass index (ρ = 0.22, p = 0.04) significantly correlated with only moderate activity and sitting time (Min Week-1), respectively. Reliability was good for vigorous (ICC = 0.73, 95% C.I = 0.55-0.84) and total physical activity (ICC = 0.61, 95% C.I = 0.47-0.72), but fair for moderate activity (ICC = 0.33, 95% C.I = 0.12-0.51), and few meaningful differences were found in the gender and socioeconomic status specific analyses.ConclusionsThe Hausa IPAQ-SF has acceptable concurrent validity and test-retest reliability for vigorous-intensity activity, walking, sitting and total physical activity, but demonstrated only fair construct validity for moderate and sitting activities. The Hausa IPAQ-SF can be used for physical activity measurements in Nigeria, but further construct validity testing with objective measures such as an accelerometer is needed.

This study investigated the prevalence, risk factors, and impact of low back pain (LBP) among professional drivers in Nigeria. Two hundred male drivers aged 19-64 years were recruited in the study. Data regarding prevalence, individual risk factors, and impact of LBP were obtained. The prevalence rate of LBP was 73.5%, and LBP have affected the driving performance of up to 74% drivers. After adjustment for age, LBP prevalence was associated with driving for >15 hours/day (odds ratio [OR]; 95% confidence interval [CI]): (0.04; 0.01, 0.20), driving car (5.52; 1.55, 19.64), and driving bus (10.49; 2.63, 41.82). No association was found between LBP prevalence and years spent driving. The study found that high prevalence of LBP affected the performance of a substantial percentage of the participants.

Previous studies have investigated the potential role of neighborhood walkability in reducing sedentary behavior. However, the majority of this research has been conducted in adults and Western developed countries. The purpose of the present study was to examine associations of neighborhood environmental attributes with sedentary time among older adults in Nigeria. Data from 353 randomly-selected community-dwelling older adults (60 years and above) in Maiduguri, Nigeria were analyzed. Perceived attributes of neighborhood environments and self-reported sedentary time were assessed using Nigerian-validated and reliable measures. Outcomes were weekly minutes of total sedentary time, minutes of sitting on a typical weekday, and minutes of sitting on a typical weekend day. In multivariate regression analyses, higher walkability index, proximity to destinations, access to services, traffic safety, and safety from crime were associated with less total sedentary time and sedentary time on both a weekday and a weekend day. Moderation analysis showed that only in men was higher walking infrastructure and safety found to be associated with less sedentary time, and higher street connectivity was associated with more sedentary time. The findings suggest that improving neighborhood walkability may be a mechanism for reducing sedentary time among older adults in Nigeria.

Objective. Students' perspectives on clinical teaching attributes can contribute to knowledge on teaching and learning in clinical education. The objective of the study was to report on Nigerian physiotherapy students' perceptions of the clinical teaching skills of their teachers.Design and setting. A cross-sectional survey conducted in five physiotherapy training institutions in Nigeria.Subject. Physiotherapy students (N=203) in the clinical phase of their training participated in the study.Outcome measure. The validated 25-item McGill Clinical Teacher Evaluation (CTE) tool was used to rate the students' perceptions of the attributes of their clinical teachers. Results.Overall the students rated their teachers high on the CTE scale; women rated their teachers higher than their male counterparts. Clinical teachers who are academicians and /or had doctoral degrees were rated higher than clinicians and /or those with bachelor degrees only. Students from two long established programmes not only rated their teachers higher, but were also more satisfied and positively challenged during clinical rotations than those from relatively new programmes.Conclusions. This study found that overall Nigerian physiotherapy students rated the teaching attributes of their clinical teachers highly. The nature of the work appointment (academic or clinical) of their teachers, as well as highest level of academic qualification achieved, influenced student ratings of their teachers. Students found the clinical rotations offered by well-established programmes more challenging and satisfying.

IntroductionAdolescent motherhood (childbearing below 18 years of age) is a major global health and social problem. Understanding the impact of early motherhood on maternal and child health indices is important to community and population health promotion in developing countries. This study examined the association between adolescent motherhood and maternal and child health indices in Maiduguri, Nigeria.MethodsA cross-sectional design method was used to recruit 220 mothers (age=14–25 years) from four communities in the city of Maiduguri, Northeastern Nigeria. Participants were surveyed using a self-developed interviewer-administered questionnaire that assesses maternal and child health indices and sociodemographic characteristics. Logistic regression analysis was used to compute adjusted OR and 95% CI of the associations between motherhood in adolescence (mothers below 18 years old) and maternal and child health indices.ResultsCompared to adult mothers, adolescent mothers were more likely to experience fistula (OR=5.01, 95% CI=3.01 to 14.27), to have postpartum haemorrhage (OR=6.83, 95% CI=2.93 to 15.92), to have sexually transmitted infections (OR=6.29, 95% CI=2.26 to 17.51) and to lose a child within 5 years of birth (OR=3.52, 95% CI=1.07 to 11.60). Children born to adolescent mothers were less likely to have normal weight at birth (OR=0.34, CI=0.15 to 0.73) than those born to adult mothers.ConclusionAdolescent motherhood was associated with negative maternal and child health indices. The findings can be used by public health professionals including physiotherapists in this role to inform effective primary healthcare practice and community health advocacy to improve maternal and child health indices among adolescent mothers in Maiduguri. Future studies are needed to confirm the evidence at the regional or national level including the rural population in Nigeria.