EFFECT OF ALCOHOL ON AMPLITUDE OF ACCOMMODATION (AA) OF UNDERGRADUATE STUDENTS OF MADONNA UNIVERSITY, ELELE CAMPUS, RIVERS STATE NIGERIA

¹Oboh Roland A., ²Mube William A. & ¹Jibrin, Augustine, C.

‘Department of Optometry, Madonna University, Elele Campus, Rivers State, Nigeria

‘Department of Obstetrics & Gynaecology, University of Port Harcourt Teaching Hospital

Corresponding Email: rolandoboh1@gmail.com

ABSTRACT

Alcohol is a known central nervous system (CNS) depressant, having properties in common with general anesthetic agents, appearing to depress the midbrain reticular activating system. This experimental study ascertained the effect of alcohol (Brandy) on amplitude of accommodation (AA) of undergraduate students of Madonna University, Elele, Rivers state, Nigeria. A total of 53 young adults between the ages of 18 – 29 years with a mean age of 22.13 ± 2.49 years were involved in this study out of which 30 (56.60%) were males with mean age of 22.27 ± 2.92 years and 23 (43.40%) were females with mean age of 21.96 ± 1.82 years. The AA was measured before the ingestion of 40ml of alcoholic beverage after which same measurement was repeated three times consecutively after 15, 30 and 45 minutes respectively. Data collected were analyzed using statistical package for social science (SPSS version 25). The Friedman’s test was used to test for significance on the effect of alcohol on AA across the various periods of measurements. Gender influence on the effect of alcohol on AA was analyzed using Kruskal-Wallis test. Statistical significance was considered at p-value ≤ 0.05 (level of significance). The findings showed a slight reduction in mean AA after 15mins (10.81± 2.19), 30minutes (9.51 ± 2.18) and 45 minutes (8.74 ± 2.27) when compared to the mean baseline (12.60± 2.51) for the right eye (OD). There was also a slight reduction of mean AA after 15minutes (10.75± 1.76), 30minutes (9.66 ± 1.76) and 45 minutes (8.91 ± 1.99), when compared to the mean baseline (12.49± 2.13) for the left eye (OS). There was no statistically significant association between gender and the effect of alcohol on AA. The study concluded that concentrated  alcoholic beverages are capable of causing a slight decrease in AA lasting over 45 minutes and recommended that alcohol intake should be avoided at least 60 minutes prior to engaging in visually tasking activities especially among individuals with accommodative or convergence anomalies.

Key words: Alcohol, accommodation, convergence, visual task.

EXPLORING SOCIODEMOGRAPHS AND COPING AS REDICTORS OF BURNOUT AMONG MILITARY MEDICAL PERSONNEL DEPLOYED

Aboh J. Ogbole¹ Sandra O. Ezeh² & Mgbenkemdi Ejike. H³

¹Psychological Counselling Cell, HQ Theatre Command Operation LAFIYA DOLE, Maiduguri.

²Department of Behaviourial Medicine, 44 Nigerian Army Reference Hospital, Kaduna.

³Department of Psychology Enugu State University of Science and Technology, Agbani Enugu.

ABSTRACT

Military medical personnel deployed, experience a high level of stress in meeting the health needs of the entire personnel in military operations. This can lead to burnout which in turn threatens patient care. This study, therefore, aims to investigate factors that predicted burnout in these healthcare professionals deployed in Northeast Nigeria fighting the insurgency. A total of 120 participants were purposively selected to take part in the study. Two sets of instruments; the personal functioning inventory (PFI) to measure coping styles and the Maslach Burnout Inventory (MBI) as a measure for burnout while sociodemographic information obtained included rank, age, marital status, religion years in service professional discipline and years of professional experience. Descriptive statistics were used to present sociodemographic factors of participants while chi-square and one-way ANOVA was used to obtain the individual and joint influences of sociodemographic variables and coping on burnout respectively.  Results obtained revealed that sociodemographic variables and coping styles would significantly independently and jointly predict burnout among Nigerian military medical personnel. It was suggested that Military commanders should adopt supportive approaches and different strategies to reduce the incidence of burnout among their medical personnel to achieve effective patient care for operational effectiveness. These findings were discussed based on the literature reviewed while recommendations were made accordingly.

Keywords: Coping styles, Sociodemography, Burnout, Military, Medical personnel

PREVALENCE AND PATTERN OF STRABISMUS AMONG SECONDARY SCHOOL CHILDREN IN OGUN STATE, NIGERIA

Osuji Samuel Chibueze¹, Odede Joseph Oluwatosin², Ejidike Geraldine Ebele³

¹Department of Public Health, School of Health Technology, Federal University of Technology, Owerri, Imo State, Nigeria

^{2 , 3}Department of Optometry, Madonna University Nigeria, Elele, Rivers State, Nigeria

Email: drsamsuji@yahoo.com

ABSTRACT

Strabismus is the most common amblyopic factor. However, few studies have been done to determine the prevalence of strabismus in Ogun State. This study was aimed to determine the prevalence of Strabismus among Secondary School students in Ogun State. This was a cross-sectional study. With all ethical considerations sustained, three hundred and sixty (360) students who were within the age range of 9 to 22 years were randomly selected from three (3) public secondary schools selected from each of the three senatorial districts of Ogun State. Participants involved in the study were 168 males (46.3%) and 192 females (53.7%). Tests were conducted during the normal academic session for a period of Nine (9) months using instruments such as Snellen Visual Acuity Chart, Occluder, Pen Torch, Prism Bars, and a sheet to record the data. Simple case history and questionnaire were used to determine demographics, and information about the history of trauma, birth history of squint, family history of squint, and to rule out other pathological anomalies from the participants. Snellen’s Visual Acuity Chart, Cover and Uncover tests, Hirshberg Test, and Krimsky test, was also conducted to diagnose and determine the prevalence and pattern of strabismus in the population. Data obtained was analyzed was using Statistical Package for Social Sciences (SPSS) version 16, and tested with descriptive statistics frequency and chi-square, while a p-value was set at 0.05 (p<0.05). The prevalence of strabismus was 1.90%, and this was significantly high compared to most regions in Africa. Esotropia was more common than Exotropia in equal distribution. Early detection and treatment, as well as training for non-ophthalmic staff like teachers to detect and refer cases of strabismus are advocated.

Keywords: Prevalence; Pattern; Strabismus; Children;

INCIDENCE AND COMPARATIVE EFFECTS OF HYDRAULIC OIL AND TOPICAL ANTIFUNGAL CREAMS ON Tinea pedis AND ECZEMA

Adenugba, I.T, Akpainyang,N.U, Uko, E,A, Jones,A.M& Esu, Edidiong Michael

Department Of Science Technology

School of Applied Science, Akwa Ibom State Polytechnic, Ikot Osurua

ABSTRACT

This study was aimed at the enumeration of the incidence rate of Tinea pedis and Eczema among the students, the isolation and identification of the fungal pathogens and the comparative the effects of the potency of hydraulic oil and antifungal creams against the fungal isolates. The hydraulic oil used here included Bx oil, Al oil and Ad oil while the antifungal creams were Tr creams, Gd cream and Sk cream. A total of twenty one (21) students with either Tinea pedis or eczema volunteered for this analysis. The significant different (p<0.05) was seen as the result showed that, of the eleven (11) female students five (5) (45.5%) had Tinea pedis while 6 (54.5%) had eczema and of the 10 male students 8 (80.0%) had Tinea pedis while 2 (20.0%) had eczema.  Among the isolates identified included Trichophhyton sp, Microsporium sp and Aspergillus sp. Susceptibility result showed that the Bx oil sample was quite effective on all the fungal isolates while resistance was seen on the Ad and Al oil samples for all the isolates, the susceptibility of the antifungal creams on the isolates showed that all the isolates were sensitive to Tr and Sk cream while moderate sensitivity was seen for Gd cream. This analysis therefore shows that antifungal creams have a higher level of susceptibility on fungal isolates compared to hydraulic oil and so medical prescription of antifungal creams should be adhered to by patients for the prevention and treatment of Tinea pedis and Eczema. 

Key Words:  Incidence, Comparative effects, hydraulic oil and topical creams.