A community survey of practices related to risk factors for liver diseases among adults in Ilorin metropolis

Abstract

Liver diseases are common in Africa and account for high morbidity and mortality. Hospital-based analyses indicate that acute viral hepatitis, chronic hepatitis, cirrhosis and hepatocellular carcinoma are responsible for at least 12 percent of medical admissions and over 20 percent of hospital mortality in many parts of Africa.To determine the practices related to risk factors for liver diseases among adults in Ilorin, North Central Nigeria. This descriptive cross survey was carried out in Ilorin West Local Government Area. A multistage sampling technique was used to recruit 300 adults into the study. Pretested Interviewer administered structured questionnaire were used for the study. Data was analysed using Statistical Package for Social Sciences (SPSS) version 10 software. Chi-squared test was used to test for significant associations between variables. A p-value of less than 0.05 was considered as statistically significant. Almost all the respondents (97%) practiced at least one risk factor for liver disease. The commonly practiced risk factors among the respondents in order of magnitude include; consumption of native concoction (76%), sharing blades (71%), uvulectomy (58%), circumcision (57%) and scarification (55%). Significantly more respondents who had tertiary education did not indulge in the use of native concoction (p<0.05) and did not also share blades (p<0.05). However, significantly more respondents from the Islamic faith are involved in the use of native concoction (p<0.05) and in sharing blades (p<0.05).The practice of risk factors for liver disease was very high among the respondents. Educational level and religion significantly affects the use of native concoctions and sharing of blades. INTRODUCTION Liver diseases are common in Africa and account for high morbidity and mortality. Hospital-based analyses indicate that acute viral hepatitis, chronic hepatitis, cirrhosis and hepatocellular carcinoma are responsible for at least 12 percent of medical admissions and over 20 percent of hospital mortality in many parts of Africa (Eldryd et al, 2004). Hepatitis B virus (HBV) and hepatitis C virus (HCV) infections are the most frequent viral infections in humans, and represent a major global public health problem. HBV-and HCV-related chronic hepatitis are the main causes of cirrhosis and PLCC that are responsible for a high rate of morbidity and mortality. Approximately one-third of the world population has serological evidence of past or present infection of HBV and 350 million people are chronically infected (EASL 2003, Fattovich 2003). The prevalence of HBV infection is especially high in South-East Asia and sub-saharan Africa, where more than 8% of the