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Background: The health-related quality of life (HRQOL) of patients with hypertension is of particular concern to stakeholders because hypertension is a chronic disease., Objectives: To determine the pattern of HRQOL and its determinants among hypertensive patients in rural Southwestern Nigeria., Subjects, Materials and Methods: Ahospital-based crosssectional survey was conducted between June and October 2019 on 390 consented adult patients with hypertension on follow-up using systematic sampling technique. Respondents'blood pressure (BP), body mass index (BMI), waist circumference (WC), waist-hip ratio (W-HR) and other measurements were taken. Relevant data on socio-demographics and lifestyle behaviours were collected using an interviewer-administered questionnaire which incorporated validated instrument for assessment of HRQOL score using SF-12 survey. The data were analyzed using SPSS (version 21). Binary logistic regression was used to identify the determinants of HRQOL., Results: The mean physical component summary (42.0 ± 8.44), mental component summary (40.6 ± 8.11), and mean overall quality of life score (41.3 ± 8.17) were all below the normal score of 50 ±10. However, of all the eight domains, the role emotional was the highest (47.61 ± 14.97). The odds of having overall good HRQOL were better with respondents with female gender (AOR=1.99, 95% CI: 1.05-3.88), tertiary education (AOR=3.22, 95% CI: 1.63-7.20), and controlled BP (AOR=3.01,95% CI: 1.04-15.79)., Conclusion: The mean HRQOLscore of the respondents was below the mean score. The findings of this study would assist stakeholders in decision-making towards improved management of patients with hypertension., Competing Interests: The Authors declare that no competing interest exists, (Copyright © 2023 by West African Journal of Medicine.)

Background: Serious disability diabetes mellitus (DM) cause for patients and their support system-family and friends are enormous. It remains an important public health challenge, despite effective medical therapies for its management; patients' poor adherence remains a global problem., Objective: The study assessed the relationship between family support and medication adherence among adult Type 2 DM (T2DM) attending family medicine clinic of a rural tertiary hospital., Methodology: This was an analytic cross-sectional hospital-based study carried out among 367 patients selected by systematic random sampling method. Relevant data collected through a semi-structured questionnaire and clinical data recorded and fasting plasma glucose (FPG) were utilized for the study. Data were analyzed using SPSS version 16., Results: The mean (standard deviation) age of respondents was 61.7 ± 11.4 years. Those with strong family support that achieved medium/high (Morisky Medication Adherence Scale-8 > 6) level of medication adherence (odds ratio [OR] [95% confidence interval (CI)] = 1 6.4 [9.1-29.6], P < 0.001) constituted 69.5% of respondents. Family support was also found to have a direct relationship to glycemic control (FPG < 7.1 mmol/l), 65.7% of those with strong family support achieved good glycemic control, P < 0.001, OR (95% CI) = 17.4 (9.2-37.2). The level of medication adherence was noted to be directly related to glycemic control, 79.4% of those with medium/high medication adherence had good glycemic control, OR (95% CI) = 25.0 (14.4-43.6), P < 0.001. Strong family support leads to higher medication adherence level which resulted into better glycemic control., Conclusion: Family support improves medication adherence and glycemic control. Physicians should explore patients' family support system to improve medication adherence level and better management outcome of chronic diseases especially T2DM., Competing Interests: None

Background: Hypertension is a global health issue among the adult population with high morbidity and mortality rates. Poor adherence to medication is associated with bad outcome of the disease and wastage of health resources. Therefore, this study aims to determine the role of patient education in medication adherence among hypertensives attending tertiary hospitals in Ekiti State, South Western, Nigeria., Methods: This is a descriptive cross-sectional study involving 420 participants attending Family Medicine Department Clinic of Federal Medical Centre (FMC), Ido-Ekiti. Relevant data were collected using semi-structured questionnaire., Results: The mean age of respondents was 60.97 ± 11.28 years, and a slight female preponderance (male: female = 1:1.7 over male). Three hundred and forty nine (83.1%) were married, 273(65.0%) were from a monogamous family and 375(89.2%) had family sizes of more than 4. Ninety four (22.4%) had good knowledge about hypertension, and 257(61.2%) were adherent to their medication. Increased medication adherence proportion was observed as knowledge about hypertension improves. The odds of adherence to treatment among subjects with good knowledge is 2 times (OR = 2.320, 95%CI = 1.164, 4.626) higher than among subjects with poor knowledge., Conclusion: The proportion of respondents with good knowledge about hypertension is low. However, the adherence among them to medication is higher and statistically significant. Patient education about the disease and its treatment by primary care physicians can help to improve adherence to medication., (© 2020 Ayodapo A.O., et al.)

Introduction: Stigmatization and discrimination impact negatively on interventions and act as barriers to all HIV/AIDS activities. This study assessed the relationship between stigmatization and discrimination and adherence to antiretroviral therapy (ART) among HIV-infected patients attending the Federal Medical Centre, Ido-Ekiti, Nigeria., Methods: A cross-sectional study was carried out among respondents selected by systematic random sampling. Structured, interviewer-administered questionnaires were used to collect data subsequently analyzed with SPSS 16., Results: A total of 100 respondents comprising 61 (61.0%) female participants were interviewed. A large proportion, 92.0%, had a low level of stigmatization. In all, 88 (88.0%) had a good level of antiretroviral adherence using a threshold of >95%. More people living with HIV/AIDS (PLWHAs) with low stigmatization and discrimination had good adherence to ART (P < .001)., Conclusion: The PLWHAs with low levels of stigmatization and discrimination are more likely to adhere to ART than those with high levels. Counseling services and health education on adherence should be a strong component of all PLWHA care.