Browsing by Author "Amosun, Seyi Ladele"

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    The development of a multidimensional instrument to assess the severity, functional limitation and psychosocial restriction in individuals with chronic headache
    (University of the Western Cape, 2003) Diener, Ina JH; Amosun, Seyi Ladele
    Headache disorders constitute a public-health problem which impacts on individuals and society. The functional limitation and psychosocial restriction, caused by chronic headache, may be a more reliable indication of the severity of the disorder than the pain intensity and temporal headache pattern itself. Evaluation of all these parameters may improve health care for individuals suffering from chronic headache. The ultimate purpose of this study was to develop and validate a multidimensional questionnaire to assess the severity and impact of headache in individuals suffering from chronic headache. The study was carried out in six phases, each stage building on the previous ones. A quantitative retrospective review of 450 patients' clinical files was executed to identify the elements of complaint of these patients. This was followed by a literature review of existing headache-related health measures and construction of a theoretical framework for the study. A questionnaire was developed based on these findings. This questionnaire was then tested for face and content validity in a chronic headache population sample (n=60) and physiotherapists working with these patients (n=18). The questionnaire was further refined by a small qualitative study, making use of small group discussions (n=10). After the suggested modifications were made, the Multidimensional Chronic Headache Questionnaire (MCHQ) was tested for stability in a group of chronic headache patients (n=21), who completed the questionnaire twice with a one-week intervening period with no intervention. It was then tested for responsiveness, where patients completed the questionnaire prior to, and after, an episode of treatment. The Wilcoxon Signed Rank Sum Test was used to detect significant differences (and hence responsiveness). Lastly, all the MCHQ's (n=148) that were completed during the course of the study were analised to establish the homogeneity of item content (Chronbach alpha values), and the construct validity of the instrument in terms of item structure (exploratory factor analysis). The retrospective review of patients' perceptions of the severity and impact of their chronic headache indicated that many of the patients experienced moderate to severe limitation of function and psychosocial restriction. Although many domains of headache-related health were represented in published questionnaires reviewed for this study, no instrument that assesses both the perceived severity and a wide range of impact was found. The MCHQ was developed from this study to measure these parameters. The items in the questionnaire were based on the retrospective study and existing questionnaires utilised in the chronic headache population. The face and content validity of the first draft of the instrument was found to be good. The stability of the questionnaire was very good, with Pearson's correlation coefficients of greater than 0.9334 for all repeated items. Responsiveness was very good, with all items found to be responsive to change (with probability values of p0.6647), and preliminary construct validity was suggested by demonstration of eight distinct factors that were clearly interpretable (one in the severity and seven in the impact domain). These suggested that severity is unidimensional, and that seven dimensions of impact are assessed in the MCHQ (functional limitations, two emotional dimensions, relationship restrictions, and three headache trigger dimensions). Positive linear correlations between severity and impact suggested that the higher the severity, the more severe the impact on the individual's quality of life (r=0.5183; p<.OOOI). These tests suggested preliminary construct validity for the questionnaire. The researcher concluded that severe and frequent headache has a considerable impact on the individual and that the multiple facets of headache-related health can be measured appropriately using this instrument. The Multidimensional Chronic Headache Questionnaire is a new instrument to assess headache-related health in terms of both severity and multidimensional impact on individuals, which can be utilised in a once-off health assessment as well as an outcome measure for therapy.
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    Health promotion needs of physically disabled individuals with lower limb amputation in Rwanda
    (Taylor and Francis, 2005) Amosun, Seyi Ladele; Mutimura, Eugene; Frantz, Jose M.
    PURPOSE. The objectives of the study were to identify the health-related behaviors among physically disabled individuals with lower limb amputation resident in Rwanda, the factors that influenced these behaviors, and the major issues that should be targeted in health promotion programs for physically disabled individuals with lower limb amputation. METHOD. A cross-sectional survey, utilizing a self-administered questionnaire, was carried out among 334 lower limb amputees who volunteered to take part in the study. In addition, a sub-sample of 15 participants was purposively selected for in-depth face-to-face interviews. RESULTS. Many participants did not engage in physical exercises (64.7%). Others abused alcohol on daily basis (14.4%), smoked 11 – 20 cigarettes daily (13.2%), and used recreational drugs such as marijuana, opium and cocaine (9.6%). There were significant associations between the age group of the participants and participation in exercises (P=0.001), and consuming alcohol, tobacco and recreational drugs (P = 0.001). In-depth interviews revealed factors influencing the behavior of participants. CONCLUSIONS. Participants were found to be at risk of secondary complications because of poor lifestyle choices. There is a need to develop and promote wellness-enhancing behaviors in order to enhance the health status of physically disabled individuals in Rwanda who have lower limb amputations.
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    Identifying strategies to improve research publication output in health and rehabilitation sciences: a review of the literature
    (Health and Medical Publishing Group, 2011) Frantz, Jose M.; Amosun, Seyi Ladele
    The health research community in South Africa annually produces a fair number of research papers in national and international health and related journals. Unfortunately, the proportion of papers produced by authors in health and rehabilitation sciences is insignificant compared with other disciplines. To identify strategies to increase the number of publications in South Africa, this article reports on a review of published papers into the effectiveness of interventions designed to promote research publications among academics and clinicians in health and rehabilitation sciences programmes. Seven of the papers reported on interventions for academics, and six reported on the interventions for academics in the nursing profession. The most common interventions were ‘writing support groups’, ‘writing retreats’, and ‘writing courses’ that lasted from 3 days to 5 years. The interventions were designed to meet the needs of the participants for structured time, motivation, improved writing skills and peer support. All the interventions produced significant research output relating to submission or publication of academic papers. The implementation of these interventions by South African tertiary institutions where health and rehabilitation sciences are offered may improve the number of papers published by the health research community.
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    Injury surveillance in Taekwondo and Judo during physiotherapy coverage of the seventh All Africa Games
    (AOSIS, 2001) Phillips, Julie; Frantz, Jose M.; Amosun, Seyi Ladele; Weitz, W.
    OBJECTIVE: To obtain data relating to the incidence of injuries s stained during taekwondo and judo competitions at the 7th All Africa Games. Methods: Prospective recording of injuries sustained by athletes who sought physiotherapy services at the games. Details of type of injury, injury sites and injury severity were obtained. RESULTS: Seventy athletes out of 390 participants reported injuries. The overall injury risk ratio was 0.18. Injuries reported were strains/sprains (65,6%), bruises/contusions (16.1%) and dislocations or fractures (12,9%). The upper limbs were more commonly injured. Of the injuries sustained, approximately 18%, 69% and 13% were respectively classified as mild, moderate and severe injuries. CONCLUSION: The high incidence of moderate to severe injuries highlights the need for injury prevention programs and the presence of medical staff at major tournaments in order to make early diagnosis and appropriate intervention.
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    Perception of risk of HIV and sexual risk behaviours among students in the United States, Turkey and South Africa
    (Taylor & Francis, 2011) Adefuye, Adedeji; Abiona, C. Tititlayo; Balogun, Joseph A.; Amosun, Seyi Ladele; Frantz, Jose M.; Yakut, Yavuz
    The aim of this study was to examine HIV sexual risk behaviours and perception of HIV risk among 1 095 students from the United States of America (US), Turkey and South Africa. Randomly selected students who were enrolled in general education courses completed a structured questionnaire. Results revealed statistically significant differences in specific HIV-related sexual behaviours among students from the three countries and among male and female students in each country. A higher percentage of US and South African students engage in HIV risky sexual behaviours compared with their Turkish counterparts, and a higher percentage of female students in the US and South Africa engage in HIV sexual risk behaviours compared with their male colleagues. A higher proportion of Turkish male students engaged in sexual risk behaviours compared with their female counterparts. The perception of HIV risk was low among US and Turkish students, and high among South African students. There was no agreement between engaging in risky sexual behaviour and self-perception of HIV risk among South African female students, while agreement was poor for US male and female students, Turkish male and female students, and South African male students. The observed optimistic bias needs to be considered in the design and implementation of HIV prevention programmes for these populations.
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    Readability and test-retest reliability of a psychometric instrument designed to assess HIV/AIDS attitudes, beliefs, behaviours and sources of HIV prevention information of young adults
    (2010) Balogun, Joseph A.; Abiona, C. Tititlayo; Lukobo-Durrell, M.; Adefuye, Adedeji; Amosun, Seyi Ladele; Yakut, Yavuz; Frantz, Jose M.
    Objective: This comparative study evaluated the readability and test-retest reliability of a questionnaire designed to assess the attitudes, beliefs behaviours and sources of information about HIV/AIDS among young adults recruited from universities in the United States of America (USA), Turkey and South Africa. Design/Setting: The instrument was administered on two occasions, within a two week interval, to 219 university students in the USA (n = 66), Turkey (n = 53) and South Africa (n = 100). Method: The psychometric instrument developed has five major subscales: demographic, HIV/AIDS attitudes and beliefs, HIV risk sexual behaviour, alcohol and drug use, and HIV sources of information. Results: The instrument’s readability evaluation revealed a Flesch-Kincaid score (literacy difficulty level of the questionnaire) of 8.4, indicating that respondents would need an eighth grade reading level to understand the survey. The overall test-retest reliability coefficients for the items on the demographic subscale were generally high (0.893–0.997). Similarly, high test-retest reliability was obtained for the HIV risk sexual behaviour (0.738–0.996) and the alcohol and drug use (0.562–1.000) subscales. Much lower test-retest reliability was obtained for the HIV/AIDS attitudes and beliefs (0.32–0.80), and sources of information about HIV/AIDS (0.370–0.892) subscales. Conclusion: We found no discernible difference in the reliability data among the respondents from the three countries. The instrument should be of interest to clinicians and researchers investigating the HIV risk behaviours of young adults and older age groups with an eighth grade reading level. The availability of this instrument may enhance HIV population and intervention studies internationally.
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    What clinical competencies do we expect from physiotherapy students at the University of the Western Cape?
    (Aosis, 1998) Simuzingili, Tyson; Amosun, Seyi Ladele
    The purpose o f this study is to identify the clinical competencies that are expected o f physiotherapy students at the University o f the Western Cape. A list o fte n categories o f clinical competencies was first compiled from the literature and administered to 2 lecturers, 5 clinical supervisors and 10 fin a l year students, to elicit their perspectives o f expected clinical competencies. Based on the outcome o f this, a list o f eight categories o f competencies was administered to 7 lecturers, 50 clinical supervisors and 31 fin a l year students. Participants were requested to rank the competencies in order o f what was considered to be essential. The analysis o f 79 responses revealed similarities among lecturers, clinical supervisors and students in the ranking o f three competencies, but disparities in the ranking o f fiv e competencies. Reasons fo r the disparities, and the impact o f the disparities on students are discussed. Further research is recommended to identify the reasons fo r the disparities.