African health sciences
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African health sciences · Jun 2023
Cardiac surgery in East Africa: a profile of cases and referral to physiotherapy.
A significant increase in cardiac surgery has been observed globally, with prolonged length of stay (LOS) still prevalent due to post-operative complications. Physiotherapy pre and post cardiac surgery is known to reduce these complications and LOS, however cases referred for physiotherapy is unknown. ⋯ Cardiac surgeries were reduced annually but the post-operative complications need to be reduced. Pre-operative physiotherapy referral may reduce pneumonia and lung collapse following cardiac surgery.
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African health sciences · Jun 2023
Knowledge of non-communicable diseases among adolescents in Uasin Gishu County, Kenya.
Exposure to risk factors of non-communicable diseases (NCDs) begins early especially during adolescence while morbidity and mortality occurs mainly in adulthood. ⋯ Many of the adolescents in Uasin Gishu County, Kenya had low level of knowledge regarding NCDs and their risk factors. The findings of this study highlight the need for a school-based intervention programme to raise awareness of non-communicable disease risk factors among adolescents.
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African health sciences · Jun 2023
Case ReportsIrrational use of antibiotics without a clinical diagnosis: a short case report.
Antibiotics are often started irrationally and continued injudiciously worldwide without a clinical diagnosis. Antibiotic prescription practises are governed by multiple factors like lack of diagnostic facilities, secondary infections, poor sanitary conditions, easy availability, pharmaceutical companies' marketing strategies and patients seeking the fastest cure from healthcare providers. We report a case of a 40-year-old male who was treated intermittently with multiple antibiotics for 3 months without being clinically diagnosed. The patient continued having episodes of fever with brief periods of remission. The occurrence of recurrent episodes of transient ischemic attacks alarmed him, and he was brought to a tertiary hospital, where a diagnosis of culture-negative Infective Endocarditis (IE) was made. He underwent successful high-risk double valve replacement and was discharged from the hospital in satisfactory condition. ⋯ Antibiotics should be started judiciously with a proper clinical indication and should be reviewed from time to time regarding selection, duration, and response. In the case of non-responders, a thorough clinical examination followed by relevant investigations should be done for a proper clinical diagnosis.
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African health sciences · Jun 2023
Inflammatory bowel disease associated knowledge in South Indian populations: rational Study.
The pivotal of the study was to compare the effectiveness of education in disease-associated knowledge of Inflammatory Bowel Disease (IBD) patients between pre-test and post-test using the IBD-KNOW questionnaire and patient educational resources. ⋯ Recently there was a swift in IBD incidence, this may be improved by affording suitable patient education and counseling for further knowledge level in managing the disease by coping strategy. On comparison between the pre-test and post-test, this study recommends innovative educational methods to enable continuing education for chronic disease which can be easily accessible and reliable for IBD patients.
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African health sciences · Jun 2023
Frequency of latent tuberculosis in patients receiving Anti-TNF-Alpha therapy.
In this study, it was aimed to reveal the incidence of tuberculosis development in patients receiving tumor necrosis factor-alpha (TNF-α) blocker therapy, despite tuberculosis chemoprophylaxis. ⋯ The incidence of tuberculosis development in patients treated with anti TNF-α was found to be higher than the general population. In our country, where tuberculosis is still prevalent, patients receiving Anti TNF-α treatment (especially infliximab) should be carefully questioned and examined about tuberculosis.