Background: The aim of this study is to evaluate the effect of a psychiatric label attached to an apparently normal person on the attitude of final year medical students at a Nigerian university.

Mental disorders lead to difficulties in social, occupational and marital relations. Failure to detect mental disorder denies patients potentially effective treatment. This study aimed to assess the prevalence and nature of mental disorders at the primary care settings and the recognition of these disorders by the attending physicians. Over a period of eight weeks, consecutive and consenting patients who attended three randomly selected primary health care facilities in Sagamu Local Government Area of Ogun state were recruited and administered a questionnaire that included a socio-demographic section and Patient Health Questionnaire (PHQ). A total of 412 subjects took part in the study. Subject age ranged from 18–90 years with a mean age of 52.50±21.08 years. One hundred and seventy-six (42.7%) of the subjects were males. A total of 120 (29.1%) of the subjects had depressive disorder, 100 (24.3%) had anxiety disorder, 196 (47.6%) somatoform disorder and 104 (25.2%) met the criteria for an alcohol related problem. The PHC physicians were only able to diagnose disorders relating to mental health in 52 (12.6%) of the subjects. Health and work situations accounted for more than three-quarters of the causes of stress experienced by the subjects. We conclude that there is a high prevalence of mental disorders among patients seen in primary care settings and that a significant proportion of them are not recognized by the primary care physicians. Stress relating to health, work and financial problems is common among primary health care attendees. Physicians in primary health care should be alert to the possibility and the impact of undetected psychiatric morbidity.

Poor sleep is common in hypertensive patients and may be associated with lower health-related quality of life. Large-scale, prospective, longitudinal studies on quality of sleep in hypertensive patients are needed to confirm the high prevalence of impaired quality of sleep in this population and to examine the association between severity of hypertension and quality of sleep while controlling for potential confounding variables. We hypothesize that severity of hypertension directly influences quality of sleep, and poor quality of sleep may worsen hypertensive conditions.

There has been increasing global concern about the level of violence against pregnant women. Anecdotal evidence from general observations shows that there may be higher prevalence in the Niger Delta region of Nigeria. Unfortunately, in spite of the emerging and alarming social indicators for violence against women in the area, little effort has been made to address this dangerous trend. One major concern has been the effects of violence on pregnancy and the difficulty in protecting the pregnant women, since managing violence is often unsuccessful. There is therefore the need to evaluate the magnitude, as well as the risk factors for violence and the sociodemographic characteristics of the women, for purposes of prevention.

Despite the availability of anti-retroviral drugs and treatment, the care and support of people living with HIV/AIDS has continued to be a major challenge, with greater impact not only on the people living the disease. The burden associated with care often results in high level of stress among caregivers, usually manifesting as anxiety and/or depression. This study assesses the levels of stress among caregivers of people living with HIV/AIDS in Niger Delta region of Nigeria, in order to determine their coping strategies. Between July and December 2008, 322 caregivers of people living with HIV/AIDS attending HIV clinic of the University of Uyo Teaching Hospital were randomly assessed for stress (anxiety and depression), using Zung's Self-Rating Depression Scale (SDS) and Self-Report Questionnaire (SRQ-20). A total of 293 caregivers comprising 98 (33.4%) males and 195 (66.6%) females were analysed. Mean age of males was 44.0 ± 4.5 years and females was 39.3 ± 4.0 years. The difference in the mean was statistically significant (p<0.001). Of the 293 caregivers, 191 (65.2%) and 115 (39.2%) were scored high on SDS and SRQ-20, respectively (representing the levels of stress). Using SDS groups on SRQ-20 subscales, 134 (45.7%) had anxiety only, 23 (7.8%) depression only, 52 (17.7%) had a mixture of anxiety and depression, while 11 (3.7%) exhibited suicidal tendencies. There is increasing level of stress in caregiving. Therefore, adequate attention must be given to the psychological well-being of caregivers to enable them contribute positively to the care of people living with HIV/AIDS.