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Background: Malaria is a major public health concern among pregnant women in sub‐Saharan Africa. Within the region, Nigeria has the highest malaria cases. This study aimed to determine the prevalence and factors associated with malaria parasitaemia among pregnant women at a booking clinic in Ibadan, Nigeria. Methods: A cross‐sectional study was conducted between January and April 2021 at the University College Hospital in Ibadan, Nigeria. A sample of 300 pregnant women participated, and anaemia and malaria were diagnosed using packed cell volume and Giemsa‐stained blood smears, respectively. Data analysis was done using SPSS 25.0. Results: The study found that 26 (8.70%) pregnant women tested positive for malaria parasitaemia. Factors such as age, religion, level of education, and occupation were significantly related to the prevalence of malaria parasitaemia among pregnant women with p < 0.05. Conclusion: Our study identified a high prevalence of malaria parasitaemia among pregnant women with demographic factors such as age, religion, level of education, and occupation significantly associated. Targeted malaria control interventions for pregnant women with low levels of education and low‐income occupations are necessary, with more research needed to evaluate their effectiveness. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Introduction: the correct sexual and reproductive health knowledge of adolescents remains important to empower them for healthy decision-making. The study aimed to assess the sexual and reproductive health knowledge of secondary school adolescents in Fako, Cameroon. Methods: a cross-sectional survey of 1180 adolescents from nine schools in Fako, was conducted using a structured interviewer - guided questionnaire. Data were analysed using SPSS version 26. Descriptive statistics and logistic regression analysis were used to outline knowledge and to identify predictors of knowledge respectively. Statistical significance was set at p<0.05. Results: more than half (54.0%) of the participants had overall good sexual and reproductive health knowledge. However, 63.1% and 55.3% of the participants had poor knowledge on reproductive system functions and sexually transmissible infections respectively. In addition, 56.0% had overall good contraceptive knowledge, with 51.6% having poor knowledge on condom. Being male (AOR=0.43, 95% 0=0.20, 0.92) and using the internet to search for sexuality related information (AOR=0.46, 95% CI= 0.22, 0.94) were associated with good knowledge. Being in lower secondary school was an independent predictor of poor knowledge (AOR= 3.83, 95% CI= 1.67, 8.81). Conclusion: although slightly above half of adolescent secondary school students had good sexual and reproductive health knowledge, there existed several gaps in such knowledge. Policymakers especially in the education sector need to evaluate the current state of school-based sexual and reproductive health education in Cameroon, in order to design comprehensive curricula, that will begin from lower secondary school. Internet-based comprehensive sexuality education is also needed. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Abstract Background Understanding preferences for specialties by medical students and the factors driving choices assists policy makers in ensuring optimal spread of personnel across disciplines. Methods This cross-sectional survey using self-administered structured questionnaires was conducted on consenting students of the first medical school in The Gambia, established in 1999. Data collection was in June/July 2011. Questions were on sociodemographic characteristics of students, their parents, factors related to career preferences and opinions about counseling services. Data were analysed using JMP 8.0 software. Results Respondents were 52.4% of 202 eligible students. Mean age was 24.1 ± 5.0 years. Females constituted 54.7%. Muslims were 72.7% while Gambians formed 77.0%. Commonest specialties chosen by females were Obstetrics/Gynaecology, Paediatrics and Surgery in that order, while males preferred Internal Medicine, Surgery and Obstetrics/Gynaecology. Commonest factors influencing choices by females were ‘focus on urgent care’ (65.5%) and ‘intellectual content of specialty’ (56.9%). For males, these were ‘intellectual content of specialty’ (60.4%) and ‘focus on urgent care’ / ‘individual’s competence’ (50.0% each). More females (30.0%) than males (23.0%) had ever received career counseling, but all students desired it. Conclusions Significant gender differences exist in specialty choices and factors influencing these choices amongst these students. All want career counseling.

Introduction: Hypertensive disorders of pregnancy are common major complications of pregnancy and are responsible for significant morbidity and mortality in the fetus, the newborn infant and the mother., Objectives: To access if a single estimation of urinary microalbumin at booking would be of value in the prediction of subsequent development of preeclampsia or eclampsia, Methods: We studied at booking urinary microalbumin excretion in one hundred healthy normotensive Nigerian pregnant women attending the antenatal clinic and followed them till delivery. The women were grouped into 3 i.e. those with normal, micro and macro albumin excretion during analysis., Results: Ninety-three of these patients delivered at UCII, 2 had spontaneous abortions and five delivered elsewhere. At booking, 57 patients (61.3%) had normal albumin excretion and 22 (23.7%) and 14(15%) had microalbuminuria and gross albuminuria respectively. The men urinary albumin excretions for the normal, micro and gross albuminuria groups were 10.2 +/- 8.4, 67.0 +/- 55.2 and 321.4 +/- 14.0 mg/24 hours respectively. There was increased incidence of preeclampsia with an increase in albumin excretion and this was statistically significant (P value < 0.05). No patient developed eclampsia. With single urinary microalbumin excretion estimation at booking, the sensitivity, specificity, positive and negative predictive values of albuminuria were 88.9%, 67.9%, 22.2% and 98.3% respectively., Conclusion: Urinary microalbumin excretion when used as a single test at booking appeared to predict preeclampsia with a high sensitivity but a low positive predictive value.