Search

Abstract Background Policing is a stressful occupation. Police officers are exposed to stressors that are inherent in the organization and operations of law enforcement. Similar to their counterparts around the world, many Nigeria police officers are exposed to high levels of stress, making them vulnerable to stress-related mental health conditions and other noncommunicable diseases. Despite these risks and their consequences to the health and safety of police officers and the larger society, interventions are currently not available to address this challenge in Nigeria. This pilot study aims to assess the burden of stress from a national sample of police officers and test the feasibility of an intervention for stress prevention, management, and coping mechanisms among police officers in Nigeria. Methods This is a three-phase study: (1) a needs assessment and situational analysis using a convergent parallel, mixed-methods approach to determine the prevalence of stress and mental health burden among 1200 police officers in four randomly selected states in four geopolitical zones of the country, (2) the development of a peer-led intervention for stress prevention, management, and coping mechanism which will be tested using a cluster randomized trial among 200 police officers, and (3) the preliminary evaluation of the intervention based on knowledge about stress management and mental disorders and psychological distress and reduction in stress levels. These measures will be obtained at baseline (T0), immediate (T1), and 6-month post-intervention (T2). Feasibility will be determined based on enrollment rate, attendance, and completion of the group sessions. Multivariable linear regression models taking into account clustering effects will be used to estimate between-group differences in outcome measures. Discussion Findings from the study will inform policy review and the development of a pragmatic intervention on stress prevention and management among police officers. This will enhance the policing role of officers, thus contributing to the safety of the communities they serve. Trial registration PACTR Registry: PACTR202310474721238. Registered on 6 October, 2023. https://pactr.samrc.ac.za/TrialDisplay.aspx?TrialID=25663 . Protocol version number 1.0 (date: 6 October, 2023).

Abstract Hypertension is one of the most important risk factors for stroke and cardiovascular diseases (CVD) globally. Understanding risk factors for hypertension among individuals with matching characteristics with stroke patients may inform primordial/primary prevention of hypertension and stroke among them. This study identified the risk factors for hypertension among community‐dwelling stroke‐free population in Ghana and Nigeria. Data for 4267 community‐dwelling stroke‐free controls subjects in the Stroke Investigative Research and Education Network (SIREN) study in Nigeria and Ghana were used. Participants were comprehensively assessed for sociodemographic, lifestyle and metabolic factors using standard methods. Hypertension was defined as a previous diagnosis by a health professional or use of an anti‐hypertensive drug or mean systolic blood pressure ≥ 140 mmHg and/or diastolic blood pressure ≥ 90 mmHg. Logistic regression analysis was used to estimate adjusted odds ratios (aOR) of hypertension and their 95% confidence intervals (CI) at p

Background: The COVID-19 pandemic has raised serious public health concerns globally. Cases keep increasing across countries: exposing the emergency-containing capability, level of preparedness, emergency disease prevention, and risk management alertness of various healthcare facilities in managing the crisis. Aim: to assess the level of preparedness for the containment of the COVID-19 disease outbreak across health-care facilities in Nigeria. Materials and Methods: Participants were the stakeholders within selected healthcare facilities. Data were collected via in-depth interviews using a list of 37 structured questions to assess the level of preparedness of the Nigerian health-care facilities in containing the COVID-19 pandemic. The findings were manually and thematically analysed using the constructivist variant of the grounded theory methodology. Results: Overall, the level of preparedness across the selected health facilities was estimated as average, as several facilities were fairly prepared while a few others were relatively unprepared for the COVID-19 pandemic containment. Conclusion: The COVID-19 virus disease outbreak can be said to be fairly contained by the Nigerian health system from the standpoint of the available mortality and incidence indices. Meanwhile, there are still loopholes around financial, structural, and material provisions which are essential needs for better and sustainable pandemic containment.