Prevalence of Pica amongst Pregnant Women attending Antenatal Clinic of a Tertiary Clinic in South-East, Nigeria

BACKGROUND

The eating of non-food substances during pregnancy is called pica. It is commonly practised by pregnant women worldwide, including in Nigeria, and has been reported to have a mixed impact on their health.

AIM

This study sought to determine the prevalence of pica amongst pregnant women attending the antenatal clinic in Nnamdi Azikiwe University Teaching Hospital (NAUTH), Anambra State, South East, Nigeria.

MATERIALS AND METHODS

After obtaining approval from the Ethics And Research Committees in Nnamdi Azikiwe University Teaching Hospital, a cross-sectional survey of 326 consenting pregnant women who met the eligibility criteria was conducted. They were selected by systematic random sampling from 5th September to 5th of November 2022. Data was obtained by interview-based questionnaires and analyzed using the statistical package for Social Sciences (SPSS) version 25.0. The level of significance for this study was set at P < 0.05 for all analyses.

RESULTS

The prevalence of pica among this population was 25.8%, and their mean age was 29.3 ± 4.8. The majority identified smell 45 (53.6%) and taste 40 (47.6%) as the reasons for pica practice. Geophagy dominated other forms of pica as white clay was the most consumed item 60 (72.6%).

CONCLUSION

This study showed that pica practice was common among pregnant women in this study and geophagy was the dominant form of pica. There is a need to step up health education on the effects of pica in pregnancy.

Yellow Fever Disease: Pattern of Presentation of Patients in Federal Medical Centre, Asaba, Delta State, Nigeria

BACKGROUND

Yellow fever has become a re-emerging disease of public health importance, especially in endemic areas like Nigeria and South America. Since 2017, Nigeria has been riddled with yearly outbreaks of the disease despite the availability of a safe and effective vaccine which was introduced into the country's Expanded Programme on Immunization in 2004. We aim to describe the presentation pattern of patients with the disease who were managed in the 2020 outbreak that occurred in Delta State.

METHODS

Data were collected from the case notes of 27 patients managed for the disease using a proforma to describe their symptoms, signs, treatment measures, and outcomes. This was a facility-based retrospective cross-sectional record review carried out in the hospital's isolation ward. Data were analyzed with IBM Statistical Product and Service Solutions version 21 and presented as percentages, mean, and standard deviation.

RESULTS

Most patients were male 20 (74.1%) and the mean age of patients was 26.4 ± 13 years. The most common presenting symptoms recorded among patients were generalized weakness 27 (100%), closely followed by fever 25 (92.6%), vomiting 20 (74.1%), and jaundice 18 (66.7%). Eleven (40.7%) had blood transfusion while only 2 (7.4%) had oxygen therapy.

CONCLUSION

Young adults and males were most affected, and the most common presentation was generalized weakness closely followed by fever. A high index of suspicion of yellow fever infection by healthcare workers will aid in the presumptive diagnosis and care of patients.