Background:The amount of time a patient waits to be seen is one factor which affects utilization of healthcare services. Patients perceive long waiting times as barrier to actually obtaining services and keeping patients waiting unnecessarily can be a cause of stress for both patient and doctor.Aim:This study was aimed at assessing the determinants of patients’ waiting time in the general outpatient department (GOPD) of a tertiary health institution in northern Nigeria.Subjects and Methods:This descriptive cross-sectional study was carried out among new patients attending the GOPD of the Usmanu Danfodiyo University Teaching Hospital, Sokoto, North Western Nigeria. A structured questionnaire was used to elicit information from 100 patients who were recruited into the study using a convenience sampling method. Data collected were entered and analyzed using Statistical Package for Social Sciences version 17; Chi-square test was used to compare differences between proportions with the level of statistical significance set at 5% (P < 0.05).Results:Sixty-one percent (59/96) of the respondents waited for 90-180 min in the clinic, whereas 36.1% (35/96) of the patients spent less than 5 min with the doctor in the consulting room. The commonest reason for the long waiting time in the GOPD was the large number of patients with few healthcare workers.Conclusion:There is an urgent need to increase the number of health workers in the GOPDs which serves as the gate way to the hospital if the aims of the Millennium Development Goals are to be realized.

Background. Violence against women perpetrated by an intimate partner is an important public health issue. In recent years, attention has focused also on intimate partner violence (IPV) during pregnancy due to its prevalence, adverse health consequences, and intervention potentials. Aim. To determine the knowledge, experiences, and factors influencing IPV, including the controlling behaviors of male partners of pregnant women attending an antenatal clinic (ANC) of a tertiary health facility in Sokoto. Materials and method. A descriptive cross-sectional study was conducted among 260 pregnant women attending ANC in a tertiary health facility in the Sokoto metropolis. They were selected using a systematic sampling technique, and a set of pretested questionnaire items was used for data collection. Data were analysed using IBM SPSS version 20. Results. The respondents’ ages ranged from 19 to 40 years with a mean of 29.09±4.99 years, and up to 83.5% of them were in a monogamous setting. Three-quarters of them were Muslims mostly from urban areas (72.1%), and 36.4% had a university or HND degree. Majority of them responded correctly to questions on IPV; overall, up to 99.2% of them had good knowledge of IPV. About 33% of the respondents have experienced IPV while pregnant and up to 61.7% of them said they did nothing because of fear. Some of the controlling behaviors of male partners included always asking for permission before seeing friends and family members and also controlling their finances. Factors associated with IPV include tribe, place of residence, and partner consuming alcohol. Conclusion. Majority of the respondents had good knowledge of IPV with about one-third of them ever experiencing it. Respondent’s partners were mostly jealous and exhibited some form of controlling behaviors. Physical violence was the most prevalent form, and most of the victims did nothing about it. Government and women’s right groups should push for the implementation of tougher punitive measures against perpetrators of IPV.

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Aims: This study aims to assess the knowledge, attitude, and practices related to coronavirus pandemic among health care workers in Sokoto metropolis of Sokoto State, Nigeria.  Study Design: A cross-sectional study Place and Duration of Study: The study was conducted in Sokoto metropolis, northwest Nigeria between July and October 2020 Methodology: Four hundred and twenty-seven respondents were selected using a multi-stage sampling technique. Data were collected manually using a self-administered questionnaire entered into the computer for analysis using IBM SPSS version 25 for statistical analysis. Descriptive statistics, chi-square tests, and frequencies of the various variables were tabulated. Results: The mean age was 35.16+- 9.25 years, with those aged 30-39 years constituting 38% of the respondents. There were 53.2% males, 47.3% nurses, and 27.2% doctors, and 71.6% of the respondents were from tertiary health institutions, out of which 42% had 1-5 years of work experience. Up to 99% were aware of coronavirus 2019 (COVID-19), and overall, 78.2% had good knowledge, and 91% of all the respondents had positive attitudes towards the pandemic (p-value 0.001). Overall, 68.4% of the health workforce had appropriate practices towards preventing COVID-19, and 83% were willing to be posted to isolation centers with adequate personal protective equipment (PPE). Conclusion: The study demonstrated significant awareness and knowledge of COVID-19 amongst the health workforce in Sokoto with significant positive attitudes towards the pandemic and appropriate practices towards preventing the pandemic and willingness to work in isolation centers to support the prevention of the pandemic.