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Objective To determine the time spent and income lost by patients and their households for seeking tuberculosis diagnosis and treatment in Bauchi State-Nigeria. Method A cross sectional study where 242 TB patients were sampled from 27 out of 67 facilities providing TB services in a north-eastern state of Nigeria. Sampling was stratified based on facility type, patients’ HIV status and gender. Results The income lost among the hospitalized group was estimated at $156/patient and about $114 in the non-hospitalized patients group. Age, gender, facility of diagnosis, level of education and occupation were significant (p-values Conclusion Tuberculosis poses causes tremendous burden in terms of time and productivity lost to both patients and their households in Bauchi State Nigeria.

Objective: To determine the time spent and income lost by patients and their households for seeking tuberculosis diagnosis and treatment in Bauchi State-Nigeria. Method: A cross sectional study where 242 TB patients were sampled from 27 out of 67 facilities providing TB services in a north-eastern state of Nigeria. Sampling was stratified based on facility type, patients' HIV status and gender. Results: The income lost among the hospitalized group was estimated at $156/patient and about $114 in the non-hospitalized patients group. Age, gender, facility of diagnosis, level of education and occupation were significant (p-values <0.05) associated with total (both patients and their households) income lost. However, AFB sputum-smear result and HIV status had no significant effects on the income lost. Hospitalised patients spent an average time of 924.98 hours for diagnosis and treatment whereas the non-hospitalised spent an average of 141.29 hours. The estimated US dollar valued of these hours was US517.98 and US$79.13 for hospitalised and non-hospitalised patient groups respectively. Hospitalisation and the facility of diagnosis were statistically significant (p-value <0.05) predictors of the time patients and household spent on TB. Conclusion: Tuberculosis poses causes tremendous burden in terms of time and productivity lost to both patients and their households in Bauchi State Nigeria. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Objective: To test the hypothesis that aerobic-related leisure-time physical activity (PA) is associated with better cognitive function and that the effect varies among apolipoprotein E (APOE) genotype groups. Design: Cross-sectional study of persons examined in the Third National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey (NHANES-III; 1988-1994). Setting: US noninstitutionalized population. Participants and methods: From a sample of 7159, aged 6⩾0 years, we analyzed data for 1799 older American men and women who had information on PA, a short mental status examination (SMSE), and were genotyped at the apolipoprotein E gene locus. Results: In the initial bivariate analysis, non-ε4 carriers and ε4-heterozygotes performed better than ε4-homozygotes in the 60-69 age group. After controlling for multiple confounders including mobility limitation, PA correlated with a higher SMSE score in non-ε4 carriers (P = 0.014), but not in ε4 carriers (P = 0.887). At ⩾70 years, PA also correlated with higher adjusted SMSE scores in non-ε4 carriers (P = 0.02); but this association became nonsignificant after controlling for mobility limitation (P = 0.12). Conclusion: In a nationally representative sample, PA was associated with enhanced cognition, an effect that was differentially influenced by apolipoprotein E genotype. Experimental studies are needed to determine whether or not PA can attenuate cognitive decline [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Aiming to assess the impact of the intervention in reducing the patients' waiting time in the clinic, two surveys were conducted before and after task shifting intervention in an anti-retroviral (ARV) clinic at the Specialist Hospital, Bauchi, Nigeria in November 2008 and April 2009, respectively. Before the task shifting, six nurses from the clinic were trained on integrated management of adolescent and adult illness, as well as on the principle and guidelines for the anti-retroviral therapy, after which their schedule in the clinic was broadened to include seeing HIV patients presenting for routine refill and follow-up visits. In this study, fifty-six and sixty patients, respectively out of 186 and 202 who attended the clinic on the days of the pre- and post-intervention surveys, were randomly sampled. Data on patients' sex, age and marital status, whether patient a first timer or follow up visitor and the time spent in the clinic on that day as well as the number and composition of staff and equipment in the clinic was collected. The difference in waiting time spent between the first group before task shifting and second group after task shifting was statistically analyzed and significance tested using unpaired t-test. There was a reduction in the average waiting time for patients attending the clinic from 6.48 h before task shifting to 4.35 h after task shifting. The difference of mean was -2.13 h, with 95% CI: -2.44:-1.82 hours and the test of significance by unpaired t-test P<0.0001.