Background: Psychoactive substance use was common among commercial motorcycle operators. Studies had shown that there were some socio-demographic factors which were commoner among commercial motorcycle operators who used psychoactive substances. However, this was not explored among commercial motorcycle operators in Kano, North Western Nigeria. Aim: The aim of the study was to determine the socio-demographic factors associated with psychoactive substance use among motorcycle operators in Kano, Northwestern Nigeria. Methods: It was a cross-sectional study. Instrument used for data collection included socio-demographic questionnaire and World Health Organisation Student Drug Use Questionnaire. Data analysis was done using Statistical Package for Social Sciences (SPSS) 16th edition. Results: Commercial motorcycle operators who used substances were found to be of younger age group (X 2 = 10.9, P < 0.001), single (X 2 = 4.3, P = 0.034) and had a father who used tobacco (X 2 = 4.28, P = 0.04). Participants who were single were more likely to use inhalants (X 2 = 21.06, P = 0.001), opiates (X 2 = 11.82, P = 0.012), cannabis (X 2 = 5.12, P = 0.028) and stimulants (X 2 = 5.12, P = 0.028) compared to those who were married. Conclusion: This study found that being of younger age, being single, and having a father who smoked were significantly associated with psychoactive substance use. Participants who were singles were more likely to use inhalants, opiates, cannabis and stimulants. No relationship was observed between the age of the respondents and specific substance use. Legislations should be enacted to reduce the rate of psychoactive substance use among motorcycle operators and general population at large.

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The present study was carried out in the most populated city in Northern Nigeria that is believed to have the highest number of commercial motorcyclists and highest prevalence of psychoactive substance use in the country. Research on psychoactive substance use among motorcycle operators in Northern Nigeria is limited, despite the high level of morbidity these substances cause to them. This study aimed to study the prevalence of psychoactive substance use among motorcycle operators in Kano, North western Nigeria. The study was cross-sectional descriptive. Participants for the study were commercial motorcyclists registered with the local branch of Amalgamated Commercial Motorcycle Owner's and Riders Association of Nigeria (ACOMORAN). Assessment was carried out with the use of socio-demographic questionnaire and World Health Organization Student Drug Use Questionnaire (SDUQ). Data obtained was analysed using Statistical Package for Social Sciences (SPSS), 17 th edition. Three hundred and ninety four (394) subjects participated in the study. The results showed that the prevalence of overall psychoactive substance use was 19.3%. The prevalence of tobacco, stimulant (gadagi), and cannabis use were 19.3, 11.9 and 3.8% respectively, while the prevalence of inhalants and opiates use were 2.0 and 1.3%, respectively. There were no reported use of alcohol, benzodiazepines and cocaine. All the subjects were males, Moslems, within the age range of 22 and 60 years mean of 32.7 ± 6.6 years. They were mostly married (88.6%), and more than two third of them (70.1%) were from Kano. The study has highlighted the prevalence of substance use among commercial motorcyclists. It has important implication for policy makers to initiate primary preventive measures that could be focused towards the reduction of substance use among commercial motorcyclists in the community.

Context: Almajiri pupils are a form of street children, belonging to children on the street. Streetism is associated with a lot of physical and social stress. Aim: This study examined the prevalence of psychiatric morbidity and sociodemographic factors among pupils in traditional Almajiri (Tsangaya) and Almajiri Integrated Model Schools (AIMS) in Sokoto metropolis, northwest Nigeria. Methods and Materials: Pupils within the ages of 6–17 years participated in this cross-sectional comparative study. Through a multistage sampling technique, 96 pupils from each of Tsangaya and AIMS were selected as an equal sample. The Kiddies Schedule for Affective Disorders and Schizophrenia, Present and Lifetime (K-SADS-PL), and sociodemographic variables were assessed. The Statistical Package for Social Science version 21 software for windows was used to analyze the data. Results: We studied 192 all male pupils, whose mean age and standard deviations were 13.01 ± 2.30 and 12.91 ± 2.15 years in Tsangaya and AIMS, respectively. Overall, the prevalence of psychiatric morbidities was 27.6%, in a proportion of 67.9% to 32.1% in Tsangaya and AIMS, respectively. The common psychiatric disorders in this study were depression, enuresis, and posttraumatic stress disorder. Conclusion: Tsangaya pupils experience more psychiatric morbidity compared to their counterparts in AIMS. Neurotic disorders were found to be more prevalent among them. More AIMS should be created to reduce the prevalence of psychiatric morbidity among the vulnerable children in Tsangaya.

Quality of life (QoL) is becoming a widely accepted schizophrenia management outcome. But it is still not very clear if there are any significant differences between the conventional and atypical antipsychotics in terms of QoL improvement among people with schizophrenia (PWS). It is also imperative that antipsychotic drug-related factors, such as medication adherence and side-effect, which could directly or indirectly affect the QoL of PWS, are determined and compared among PWS on different classes of the drugs. Data were collected on Socio-demographic Characteristics, Quality of Life and Medication adherence using Socio-demographic and Schizophrenia Clinical Characteristics questionnaire, World Health Organization Quality of Life (WHOQoL)-Brief, and Morisky Medication Adherence Scale (MMAS) respectively from 250 respondents attending a tertiary health center's Psychiatric clinic in Kano, Nigeria. Although PWS on the two classes of antipsychotic drugs showed inequalities in different aspects and domains of QoL, as well as in the levels of adherence and side-effects, the differences were all insignificant. However, presence of drug side effects was significantly associated with lower health-related QoL in the conventional antipsychotics group (p = 0.001), and lower score in the physical domain of QoL in the atypical antipsychotics group (p = 0.044). Medication adherence was found to be associated with better scores in different domains of QoL in both groups of PWS. There are no significant differences in terms of QoL, medication side-effect and adherence among PWS on the two classes of antipsychotics. However, drug side-effects and adherence were significantly and respectively associated How to cite this paper: Babandi, F.