Prevalence of Malaria among Patients Attending Primary Health Care Clinic Garaku, Nasarawa State, North Central Region of Nigeria

The aim of this study was to determine the prevalence of malaria parasite infection (MPI) among patients attending Primary Health Care clinic (PHC) at Garaku, Kokona Local Government Area of Nasarawa State North Central Nigeria. A formal consent was issued by the Nasarawa State Hospital management Board to conduct the study. A studypopulation size of150 consenting, apparently healthy, males and females who had attended the Primary Health Care clinic situated at Garaku, Kokona Local, Government of Nasarawa State, for medical treatment, were recruited for the study. The study took place between the month of May 2019 and September 2019. The socio-demographic features of each participant were verbally obtained, and included sex, age, occupational and educational statuses. The gold standard tool (microscopy) was relied upon to determine the prevalence of malaria infection among the subjects. Blood samples collected from patients were Giemsa stained and microscopically examined for malaria parasites. Analysis of the samples revealed malaria prevalence of 53.3 %among the sampled population. Further analysis onmalaria prevalence with respect to factors such as age, educational and occupational status revealed that malaria infection was more prevalent among the civil servants (75%), followed by the elderly (71.4%), and followed by the educated (73.3%) in the population. In conclusion, the study established that women, civil servants, the elderly, and the least educated were more vulnerable to malaria infection within the study location

Quality of life and adherence to mediterranean diet among type 2 diabetes mellitus patients of a primary health care clinic in Hebron city, Palestine

BACKGROUND: Diabetes mellitus (DM) is a lifelong metabolic disease with a high rate of mortality and morbidity. Uncontrolled and untreated diabetes results in serious complications that subsequently cause patients’ quality of life (QoL) to deteriorate. Adherence to Mediterranean diet (MD) may relieve the complications of diabetes, thereby improving the quality of life for these patients. OBJECTIVE: The aim of this study was to assess the QoL of DM patients who adhered to MD. METHODS: In this cross-sectional study, we examined the QoL and MD data of 106 DM II patients being treated at a primary health care clinic in Hebron. We used the SF-36 questionnaire to measure the patients’ QoL and the MEDAS tool to assess their MD adherence. We also recorded their anthropometric measurements, abdominal obesity, lifestyle habits and blood biochemical results. RESULTS: The sample comprised male and female DM II patients between the ages of 35 and 72, with their mean age being 55.8±10.24. Patients’ QoL scores showed a significant relationship with three BMI categories, i.e., total QoL score, physical function, and pain domains (p < 0.05). In terms of diet, high adherence to MD had a positive impact on all domains and on patients’ total QoL with significant differences in physical functioning, emotional well-being, social functioning and pain domains. CONCLUSION: Patients’ QoL domains were relatively low and highly affected by DM II. Patients with greater MD adherence reported higher scores in all QoL domains. Significantly higher scores were noted for the physical, social and pain domains. Hence, MD is a recommended dietary pattern for DM II patients to achieve a better QoL.

9. Influenza Vaccine Rates Amongst Patients With Limited English Proficiency In A Primary Health Care Clinic; Our 3 Years Experience

Background Influenza has been recognized to be a significant cause of morbidity and mortality. It was the cause of 10.1% of all deaths recorded on death certificates during the week ending January 20, 2018.In order to reduce the risk of influenza, Centers for Disease Control recommends that every person six months and older who have no contraindications be vaccinated with the influenza vaccine. Limited English Proficiency (LEP) describes individuals who have limited ability to speak, read, write or understand English language. Sadly, there is an increasing body of data that suggest that patients with LEP are less likely to seek out medical attention in a timely manner, are less adherent to medically recommended preventive and therapeutic measures. The purpose of this study was to determine the rate of acceptance of the Influenza vaccine amongst patients with LEP in our resident ran out-patient clinic. Methods This study was retrospective, data was obtained through chart review of the electronical medical records (EMR). Patients had to be at least 18 years old and registered patients at our primary health care clinic to be enrolled in this study. Data was gathered for the 2015–2016, 2016–2017 and 2017–2018 influenza seasons. The months of October to May were designated as the Influenza season as these months have been identified as the time frame that the influenza virus has the most activity. Results 109 of 499 the randomly selected participants were not included in the final analysis due to reasons like: no visit to the primary health care clinic during specified periods, ability to communicate in English, insufficient data in to the EMR. Data from 390 patients were analyzed. 43.3% spoke Spanish, 36.2% were Portuguese speaking and 20.5% spoke other languages. A large majority of patients across all language groups did not receive the influenza vaccine each season. Table 1 Figure 1 Figure 2 Conclusion Results from this study indicate that there was an alarmingly low rate of influenza vaccination among patients with LEP in our primary care clinic in during the 2015–2016, 2016–2017 and 2017–2018 influenza seasons. This highlights the need for implementing interventions aimed at both understanding why this vaccination gap exist and improving the vaccine acceptance rate amongst this venerable population. Disclosures All Authors: No reported disclosures

75 Functional Mobility and Balance Confidence as Correlates of Fall Risk in Older Adults Attending a Primary Health Care Clinic

Background Fall is one of the leading cause of unintentional injury among older adults. Information regarding functional mobility and balance confidence as correlates of fall risk in older adults attending a primary health care clinic is limited. This information is vital for fall screening and prevention. We aimed to examine if functional mobility and balance confidence were correlates of fall risk in older adults attending a primary health care clinic. Methods 106 older adults (≥60 years old) attending a primary health care clinic at Cheras, Malaysia participated in this cross-sectional study. Socio-demographic details and falls history were obtained using a structured questionnaire. Functional mobility and balance confidence were assessed using Timed Up and Go (TUG) test and Activities-Specific Balance Confidence (ABC) scale respectively. Fallers were categorised based on history of at least a fall in the past 12 months. Differences between faller and non-faller groups were distinguished using Independent T and Mann Whitney tests. Binomial logistic regression and receiver operating curve were performed to identify if functional mobility and balance confidence were correlates of falls risk and the cut off values for measures were obtained. Results TUG test and ABC scores differed significantly between the two groups (p&lt; 0.05). Both TUG test and ABC scale were identified as correlates of falls risk with r, R2 of 0.98, 0.26 (p&lt; 0.001) and 0.95, 0.12 (p&lt; 0.05) respectively. Cut off value of 9.02 seconds and above for TUG test and 82.81% and below for ABC score were identified as risk factor of falls among older adults. Conclusion The cut off values obtained from our study can be used as reference to screen older adults at risk of falls in Malaysian primary health care settings. Early fall risk screening and management is a part of falls prevention strategy in older adults.

vBack pain and its relationship to socio-demographic and psycho-social factors in a cohort of pregnant women attending a primary health care clinic in the eThekwini municipality

Background: The prevalence of back pain and general discomfort is not uncommon in pregnant women, often being under-reported until it affects their daily routine. South Africa, a third world developing country has unique risk factors and demographic profile. Although many studies have previously studied the various factors relating to back pain in pregnancy, this topic is far from being exhausted as a research area. Specifically, new studies should be conducted on the prevalence of back pain in pregnancy to analyse the impact it has on women worldwide. Little research has been conducted on rural communities in Africa especially in South Africa, to assess the risk of pregnancy-related back pain. Therefore, the information obtained from this study will provide a better understanding of the demographics, physical demands and psycho-social stresses experienced by pregnant women in this understudied population. Back pain and general discomfort is not uncommon in pregnant women, but it is often under- reported and can be disabling. International studies report a high prevalence especially in the last trimester. Little is known about the prevalence of and risk factors for back pain in South African pregnant women. Thus, this study aimed to determine the relationship between socio-demographic and psychosocial factors in a cohort of pregnant women attending a primary health care clinic in the eThekwini municipality of the province of KwaZulu-Natal, South Africa. Method: A retrospective descriptive cohort design was utilized whereby 382 participants’ files were assessed for eligibility. The files consisted of a socio-demographic questionnaire, a chart review and two epidemiological questionnaires that were administered to the participants during the first and third trimester. Permission to access these files was obtained from the principle investigator of the MRC/DUT project. All participants signed consent forms for research purposes. The data relevant to this study was extracted and analysed using Statistical Package for the Social Science version 24.0 (IMB Analytics). Descriptive statistics were used to describe the data in terms of means and standard deviations or frequencies and count where appropriate. Inferential statistics allowed for relationships between the variables to be assessed. A p - value of less than 0.05 was used to indicate statistical significance. Results: The total of 303 files were included. Participants were Black Africans, mostly single (81.2%, n=229) with a mean age of 25.84 (±SD 6.04). There was a high unemployment rate (70.8%, n=199), with most having obtained a secondary education (77.1%, n=213), and 44.1% (n=122) residing in squatter camps. There was a high human immunodeficiency infection rate (40.5%, n=94). Of the 303 participant files eligible for the study only 46 returned for the third trimester follow up. The prevalence of BP in the first trimester was 12.4% (n=35) and 10.9% (n=5) in the third trimester. LBP was the most (8.5%, n=24) in the first and 10.9% (n=5) in the third trimester, followed by UBP and NP. The incidence of back pain over the duration of pregnancy was zero. Being single (p = 0.03), reporting no stress (p = 0.04), not using pain killers (p = 0.01), and no alcohol consumption in the current pregnancy (p = 0.03) were associated with a decreased risk of back pain. There were no relationships found between the variables and back pain prevalence in the third trimester. Conclusion: The women attending this primary health care clinic are relatively young, come from a low socio-economic area with low reported levels of stress and substance abuse. They reported low levels of back pain. The follow up rate at the third trimester was low and this may skew the results of this study. Further research is needed in this community and South Africa to appreciate the prevalence and impact of back pain in pregnancy.