Background Diabetes is one of the most important chronic diseases that have a great impact on health as people with diabetes are constantly being reminded of their disease daily; they have to eat carefully, exercise, and test their blood glucose. They often feel challenged by their disease because of its day-to-day management demands and these affect their quality of life. The study aimed at determining the effect of an educational intervention program on the quality of life of Individuals with type 2 Diabetes Mellitus in South East, Nigeria. Methods A quasi-experimental controlled study involving three hundred and eighty-two (382) type 2 DM persons recruited from the tertiary health institutions in South East, Nigeria, and randomly assigned to intervention and control groups respectively. Data was collected from the diabetic clinics of the health institutions using the SF – 36 questionnaires. Pretest data collection was done, and thereafter, education on self-care was given to the intervention group. After a 6months follow-up, post-test data were collected from both groups. Analysis was done using an Independent t-test, Analysis of Covariance (ANCOVA), Paired Samples Test, and Spearman rank order correlation at 0.05 alpha level. Results The control group indicated significantly higher mean HRQOL scores in most domains of the HRQOL before intervention (t = -1.927 to -6.072, p < 0.05). However, 6 months after the intervention, the mean HRQOL scores of the intervention group increased significantly in all the domains of HRQOL (p < 0.05) with an effect size of 0.14 (Eta squared). A comparison of the two groups shows a statistically significant difference (64.72 ± 10.96 vs. 58.85 ± 15.23; t = 4.349. p = 0.001) after the intervention. Age was inversely correlated with some domains of HRQOL; as age increases, HRQOL decreases in those domains. Gender had no significant influence on HRQOL. Conclusion Educational intervention was effective in improving HRQOL in individuals with type 2 DM. Hence, it is recommended for inclusion in all diabetes care plans.

Background Diabetes is one of the most important chronic diseases that have a great impact on health as people with diabetes are constantly being reminded of their disease daily; they have to eat carefully, exercise and test their blood glucose. They often feel challenged by their disease because of its day-to-day management demands and these affect their quality of life. The study aimed at determining the effect of an educational intervention program on the quality of life of Individuals with type 2 Diabetes Mellitus in South East, Nigeria. Methods A quasi-experimental controlled study involving three hundred and eighty-two (382) type 2 DM persons recruited from the tertiary health institutions in South East, Nigeria, and randomly assigned to intervention and control groups respectively. Data was collected from the diabetic clinics of the health institutions using the SF – 36 questionnaires. Pretest data collection was done, thereafter, education on self-care was given to the intervention group. After a 6months follow-up, post-test data were collected from both groups. Analysis was done using an Independent t-test, Analysis of Covariance (ANCOVA), Paired Samples Test, and Spearman rank order correlation at 0.05 alpha level. Results The control group indicated significantly higher mean HRQOL scores in most domains of the HRQOL before intervention (t = -1.927 to -6.072, p < 0.05). However, 6 months after the intervention, the mean HRQOL scores of the intervention group increased significantly in all the domains of HRQOL (p < 0.05). Also, the overall mean HRQOL score of the intervention group increased significantly by 5.87point after intervention (64.72 ± 10.96 vs 58.85 ± 15.23; t = 4.349. p = 0.001). Age was inversely correlated with some domains of HRQOL; as age increases, HRQOL decreases in those domains. Gender had no significant influence on HRQOL. Conclusion Educational intervention was very effective in improving HRQOL in individuals with type 2 DM. Hence, it is recommended for inclusion in all diabetes care plans.

Purpose: This study determined factors influencing the use of oral rehydration solution among mothers with children below five years of age attending Holy Rosary Specialist Hospital and Maternity Waterside in Onitsha North LGA, Anambra State. Methodology: A cross-sectional descriptive design was adopted in conducting the study among mothers with children under five years attending Rosary Specialist Hospital and Maternity, Waterside in Onitsha North Local Government Area, Anambra State. A sample size of one hundred and fifty (150) women was selected by convenience sampling techniques. A self-structured questionnaire with a reliability coefficient of 0.98 was used in gathering the necessary data suitable for the study which were analysed with SPSS version 20.0. Findings: It was discovered that majority of the women 141(94.6%) have heard of ORS and they have adequate understanding of the solution, the two different types of oral rehydration solutions (that is solution from oral rehydration salt and salt sugar solution) but do not use SSS hence lack adequate knowledge of its preparation. Also, the mothers 116(95.9%) used ORS when their children had diarrhoea while the remaining 5(4.1%) did not use ORS because their children never had diarrhoea. 65(43.6%) of the women have all the materials needed for the preparation of SSS while 70(47.0%) which were the majority did not know the materials required for the preparation of ORS hence they could not indicate if they had the materials or not. From the hypothesis tested, there is a significant relationship between mothers’ level of education (p=0.030), mother’s occupation (p=0.024), number of under five children (p=0.045) and the use of ORS. From the study, it was ascertained that socio-demographic factors like mother’s level of education, occupation and number of under five children affected the use of ORS in the population used. Mother’s level of knowledge of the solution, availability and accessibility of the ORS sachet (environmental factor) and the occurrence of diarrhoea in a child (Child factor) also affect use of ORS. Recommendations: Health workers in the health care facilities should intensify their effort in the provision of adequate health education to the mothers (may be to be incorporated into antenatal care health talks) on the preparation of Salt Sugar Solution (SSS) type which is cost effective and readily available. Also the hospital management should ensure that Oral Rehydration salt sachets are available in the hospitals and at an affordable price so as to ensure authenticity of the product used by the women.

BACKGROUND: COVID-19 is a contagious disease without any treatment, vaccine, or immunity, which the only way out is the practice of preventive measures. This article assessed the perception and factors influencing the practice of preventive measures to COVID-19 among nurses in Anambra State, Nigeria. The study objectives include to determine the perception of nurses toward COVID-19 and to determine factors that influence the practice of preventive measures to COVID-19 among nurses in tertiary hospitals in Anambra State. MATERIALS AND METHODS: The design for the study was descriptive cross-sectional survey conducted among 344 nurses in the two tertiary institutions. RESULTS: Three hundred and three (88.1%) nurses had no formal training on COVID-19 protocol. They have a good perception of the disease as, among others, they (165 [48.0%]) see it to be highly contagious, 207 (60.2%) can recognize symptoms easily, 168 (48.8%) believed that COVID-19 could be handled professionally based on their experience, 155 (45.1%) responded that there is no vaccine yet for the disease, and 200 (58.1%) responded that patients should not hide their symptoms and travel history to avoid infecting other people. The result on the false benefits has 323 (93.9%) who responded that COVID-19 preventive measures will predispose one to the disease, 319 (92.7%) who responded that the preventive measures will not slow the spread of the disease, 288 (83.7) who responded that it is independent of normalcy returning to areas affected, and 327 (95.1%) who responded that COVID-19 preventive measures are among the effective ways to mitigate the disease and enhance life sustainability. Some work-related/institutional and disease-specific factors influence their practice of preventive measures to COVID-19. Such factors include the time to use personal protective equipment (PPE) in an emergency (170 [49.4%]), remembering to use PPE (158 [45.9%]), insufficient nursing staff during a shift (158 [43.0%]), and too many responsibilities during a shift (178 [51.7%]). CONCLUSION: With the increasing death as a result of COVID-19, of which health workers are not immune to, it is essential to annihilate all negative factors that may impede the accurate practices of the preventive measures and also support the nurses with the necessary tools and knowledge to mitigate their exposure to the disease.

Sleep deprivation is gradually becoming a common phenomenon in modern societies, especially among chronic users of social media, night shifts workers, students and some less-privileged populations. The erroneous perception among certain subgroups of the population that time spent to sleep is time wasted is of great concern, because sleep is indeed critical for good health and survival. Of greater concern are the effects of alcohol, beverages like caffeine and environmental toxicants like heavy metals and pesticides on normal sleep mechanisms. The consequences of sleep disorder are dire as it alters immune responses and have been reported to increase the risk of some non-communicable diseases. The inter-individual differences in sleep requirements may present a challenge in determining adequate sleep duration. On the average, most adults need about seven to eight hours of sleep each night while teens and children need more. Accumulation of sleep debt for individuals sleeping less than the required sleeping duration may lead to chronic health and behavioural problems. We opine that the mechanisms underlying sleep disruption by some foods and toxicants have toxicogenic link. There is need, therefore, to consider sleep deprivation as a public health issue with a view to ensuring proper advocacy among risk groups in order to improve quality of life and economy of nations. Given the prevalence of alcohol and caffeine consumption, exposures to heavy metals and pesticides, and increasing neurodegenerative disorders, there is need to elucidate the precise mechanisms of sleep disruption and exposures to the aforementioned chemicals.