The Burden of Undiagnosed Hypertension and Associated Risk Factors among Adults in a Rural Community in Imo Sate, South-East Nigeria

Background: Cardiovascular diseases are the leading cause of death globally and hypertension is a major contributor to this burden. Many people with hypertension have poorly controlled blood pressure and up to half of the adults with hypertension are unaware of their hypertensive status due to factors that bother on poor management and poor screening approaches. The implication is that people who have poor access to healthcare especially those in the rural communities are at increased risk of cardiovascular complications and all-cause mortality. Unfortunately, not much has been done to ascertain the burden of undiagnosed hypertension and associated risk factors in rural communities in Nigeria. Methods: We conducted a community-based cross-sectional study in a rural community in Imo State, Nigeria, on burden of undiagnosed hypertension with participants recruited via a multi-stage sampling method. An interviewer-administered questionnaire was used, and standardized instruments were applied to obtain, process and analyze the data. Tests of association between the independent variables and outcome were conducted using logistic regression. P-value of Results: A total of 380 adults participated in the study. The mean age was 44.2 years. The prevalence of undiagnosed hypertension was 35.8%. Logistic regression revealed that age, with the respondents in the age groups 26 - 35 years (OR = 10.647, 1.910 - 59.345, p-value = 0.007), 36 - 45 (OR = 3.680, 1.263 - 10.723, p-value = 0.017), 46 - 55 years (OR = 2.737, 1.114 - 6.727, p-value = 0.039), 56 - 65 years old (OR = 3.384, 1.610 - 7.115, p-value = 0.001);and being married (OR = 3.846, 1.118 - 13.233, p-value = 0.033), were independent risk factors for undiagnosed hypertension. Conclusion: The prevalence of undiagnosed hypertension in the rural population of South-East Nigeria is high. Younger age (26 - 35 years) had the highest odds of risk for occurrence of hypertension. Also being married was identified as a risk factor for undiagnosed hypertension.

Feasibility Study of Assist-Linked Brief Intervention for Substance Use Disorders in a Rural Community of Plateau State, Nigeria

Objective: We studied the feasibility of using Alcohol, Smoking, and Substance Involvement Screening Test (ASSIST) linked with Brief Intervention (ALBI) in treating Substance Use Disorder in Nigeria. There is a clear gap in meeting the needs for treatment and care for people with drug use disorders in Nigeria with many users reporting a self-perceived need for treatment and about 40% of them wanting to receive drug treatment but were unable to access such services. Methods: ASSIST questionnaire was used to gather baseline data, and ALBI along with Motivational Interviewing (MI) was used to intervene for 6 weeks following which ASSIST score was repeated and compared with baseline. Results: Majority of the participants were aged 21 - 30 years, mostly males with (61.3%) lacking steady jobs. Lifetime prevalence of any drug use was (88.2%). Three months prevalence was nicotine (72.0%), alcohol (66.7%), cannabis (47.3%), opioids (11.8%) among others. The ASSIST scores were mostly on the severe ranges. ASSIST result after six weeks showed marked reduction. The Mean Difference (MD) in the ASSIST scores after intervention was significant for tobacco, opioids, alcohol, and cannabis. The Cohen’s D effect size was large for tobacco (1.08), alcohol (0.92) and cannabis (0.73) but low for other substances. Conclusion: ALBI along with MI was helpful in combating the menace of substance use.

Empirical Analysis on Rural Financial Development and Farmers' Income Increase in China

The growth of farmer＇s incomes is cIoseIy reIated to rural finance. The research analyzed the dynamic reIationship of rural financial deveIopment, efficiency and farmer＇s incomes based on VAR modeI, and the resuIts indicated that the ex-pansion of rural finance wouId stimuIate farmer＇s incomes in a Iong term, and the growth of rural financial efficiency significantIy improves farmer＇s incomes in a short term, instead of a Iong term. Hence, it is necessary to introduce more credit funds and social funds to rural areas, deepen rural financial system reform and acceIerate use rate of Ioan capital and enhance guidance for farmers and township enterprises in use of Ioan capitals.

Medical Morbidity Profile of Adults in a Rural Community in Enugu, Southeast Nigeria: A Cross Sectional Survey

Introduction: People in rural communities are exposed to the risk factors for non-communicable disease as those in urban areas. Correct interpretation and management of symptoms are important in primary care especially in rural communities where diagnostic facilities are not readily available. Materials and Methods: This was a cross-sectional study carried out in a village in Enugu South Local Government area of Enugu State. Thorough medical history was taken from all eligible participants who gave their consent. Data were analyzed using SPSS version 26. Results: Data from a total of 1019 (64.7%) out of 1576 participants were analysed. Fever was by far the most common presenting complaint 580 (56.9%) of all participants and 67.9% of medical complaints seen in the clinic. This was followed remotely by musculoskeletal problems and neurological problems 15.6% and 3.8% of the participants respectively. Across all age groups, febrile illness was more than non-febrile illness except in those 65 years. Generalized body pains 74 (7.3%), back pains 55 (5.1), headache 33 (3.2%) and abdominal pains 24 (2.4%) were the commonest symptoms presented by the participants. About 15 (1.5%) of the population surveyed had had trauma/surgery in the past. This was twice the number who presented to the clinic with symptoms related to injury and trauma 7 (0.7%). Conclusions: Fever and musculoskeletal pains are the dominant medical complaints presented by adults in a rural community clinic. This may be related to the season of the year and the occupation of the population studied.

Issues of "Agriculture, Rural Areas and Farmers" from the Perspective of Economy and Ideological System : Based on the Background of All-round Well-off Society

Based on CNKI core journals and CSSCI database, "agriculture, rural areas and farmers" were used as the key words to summarize 20 core articles and CSSCI articles with "agriculture, rural areas and farmers" as the key words from 2015 to 2020, so as to let more researchers have a deeper understanding and grasp of China s current problems of "agriculture, rural areas and farmers". Through the method of comparative analysis of studies, the problems that need to be solved in the work of "agriculture, rural areas and farmers" were discussed, so that other scholars can further clarify the research results and experience of "agriculture, rural areas and farmers", so as to deepen the reform of rural land system and steadily promote the work of "agriculture, rural areas and farmers" in the future. This study can provide thinking and reference for deepening the reform of rural land system and steadily promoting the work of "agriculture, rural areas and farmers".

Increasing Trend of Overweight and Obesity in a Rural Community in South East Nigeria

Background: There is a global trend of increasing obesity, affecting mostly the high-and-middle income countries. Obesity was more prevalent in the urban areas but recent studies have suggested a disproportionate increase in obesity in the rural areas outstripping that of urban areas thus fueling the global obesity epidemic. This cross-sectional community study was undertaken to determine the prevalence of obesity in a rural community in South east Nigeria using Body Mass Index (BMI), waist circumference and waist-hip ratio. Materials and Methods: Adults (≥18 years) in a rural community in Enugu State were studied in July 2019. The weight, height, waist circumference and hip circumference of the participants were taken. The BMI was calculated from the weight and height and the waist-hip ratio was determined for each participant. Results: A total of 210 participants were studied and analyzed. The prevalence of obesity and overweight by BMI was 10.9% and 28.0% respectively. There was no difference in the prevalence of obesity in males and females (10.9% vs 10.9%) and overweight (27% for males and 28% for females). Significantly more females (40%) than males (7.3%) were obese by sex specific waist circumference (p < 0.001). There was no difference in the proportions of males (49%) and females (53.3%) that were obese by sex specific waist/hip ratio, P-Value 0.575. There was no difference in the BMI between the age groups for males (p = 0.629) and females (p = 0.439). However, middle aged females (40 - 59 years) had higher waist circumference than the younger and older females (p = 0.025), while the older males (60 - 79 years) had higher waist-hip ratio than younger age groups p = 0.002. Conclusions: The result of this study shows an increasing trend of obesity and overweight in a farming rural community in South east Nigeria compared with the prevalence recorded in the region in the past.

The Impact of Development of Rural Finance in Jiangxi Province on the Agricultural Economy and Farmers’ Income

Based on the rural economic data pertaining to the development of rural finance, the growth of agricultural economy and farmers' income in Jiangxi Province during the period 1990-2009, we conduct empirical research on the impact of development of rural finance on the growth of agricultural economy and farmers' income, using the ADF test method, the Granger causality test, and regression analysis. The results show that the development of rural finance in Jiangxi Province has a significant positive effect on the growth of rural economy and farmers' income. When the ending balance of agricultural loans increases by 1 unit, the agricultural added value will increase by 0.367 1 units; when the ending balance of agricultural loans increases by 1 unit, farmers' income will increase by 0.597 5 units, indicating that the development of rural finance plays a significant role in promoting the per capita net income of farmers.Finally we propose to increase agricultural credit efforts in the financial institutions, establish and improve the agricultural credit management system.

The Problems Existing in Building of Rural Community in Jilin Province and Corresponding Countermeasures

This paper analyses some problems existing in building of rural community in Jilin Province as follows:the funds for community building are short;the residents show sluggish participation in community;the infrastructure community building is backward;the organizational building of community lags behind;the operating mechanism is in chaos.Finally,corresponding countermeasures and suggestions are put forward as follows:we should strengthen the funds guarantee of government for community building;we should reinforce the quality education for the rural residents;we should speed up the construction of rural infrastructure;we should improve organizational building of rural community.

Prevention and Control of Adolescents' Deviant Behavior in Rural Community

Firstly,an analysis is made from the point of view of sociology on traditional modeling logic of prevention and control of adolescents' deviant behavior in rural community,and maintenance and reproduction of this model.The traditional prevention and control model of adolescents' deviant behavior in rural community is diversity-orderly pattern prevention and control system.This system is based on natural economy,especially on agricultural economy."Supervision by public opinion and moral imitation" is the basic operation logic of this system.It contains a compensation mechanism of "bringing up children for the purpose of being looked after in old age" and "favor returning".Then,deconstruction of traditional prevention and control model for adolescents' deviant behavior in rural community is analyzed.Along with advance in rural modern democratic management and legal construction and growing of rural market economy,function of traditional diversity-orderly pattern of prevention and control of adolescents' deviate behavior in rural community is weak and weak in prevention and control of modern rural adolescents' deviant behavior.Finally,modeling ideas of new(coordinative) prevention and control of rural adolescents' deviant behavior are put forward from four aspects,namely,democracy and legal system,community,family and various rural adolescent admittance organizations.

A Survey on Pattern of Ocular Morbidity in a Rural Community in Rwanda

Background: Majority of ocular morbidities found in developing countries are preventable and curable and vary from country to country and from community to community. Screening of ophthalmic conditions in communities with underserved ophthalmic services, can help detect and treat various spectra of ocular morbidity. Untreated ocular conditions may lead to vision impairments and blindness. Methods: A free walked-in ophthalmic screening outreach survey was conducted at a rural community in Rwanda and the total number of attendees was 762. Patients’ demographics, detailed case history, and ophthalmic specific evaluation tests generated the survey data. Treatment offered was based on the diagnoses made. Patients who required special treatment or reviews were referred to the health care facilities for further investigations and subsequent management. The recorded data on observation forms were analyzed by Statistical Package for Social Sciences (SPSS) computer software using descriptive statistics. Results: Majority (91.5%) of the patients were from Mageragera community where the outreach was conducted. The number of females 71.7% (546) seen were more than males 28.3% (213) in the ratio of 2.5:1. Age group with the highest number of patients was (1 - 10) years, 139 (18.2%) while the least was ≥71 years, 34 (4.5%). Among ocular morbidities diagnosed, conjunctivitis ranked highest 562 (73.8%), followed by refractive errors 118 (15.5%) and cataract 31 (4.1%). Glaucoma was diagnosed in 4 (0.5%) clients. Medication given included steroidal, non-steroidal and antibiotics ophthalmic drugs. Conclusion: A total of 762 patients benefited from early diagnoses, treatment and referrals. The pattern of eye diseases observed was similar to other reports from other developing countries. Statistics from this survey provides baseline data which can be used for planning, management and prevention of ocular conditions in the studied community as well as in research.

Inquiry of Modernization Management of Rural Community Self-organizing on the Perspective of Social Work

The current rural community self-organizing of China is closely related with the rural social stability as well as economic and social development. However, the current rural community self-organizing construction falls far behind the requirements of realistic practice all over China, which greatly affects the advancement of the rural modernization of China. On the other hand, social work provides a unique perspective and method to deal with these problems. Its service philosophy of selfservice as well as its humanitarian value and practical working methods provide reality conformity for the intervention into rural community self-organizing, making it conductive to improving the social relations between rural community residents and possible to realize the mutual development of rural community and rural community residents.

Dynamic Relation between Rural Human Capital and Farmers'Income in Henan Province

We use relevant economic and labor force data from 1990 to 2009 of Henan Province to analyze the dynamic relation between stock of rural human capital and farmers' income.Results indicate that a certain causal relationship and long-run equilibrium relation exist between rural human capital and farmers' income,but their interaction shows some lagging characteristic.Increase of farmers' income in Henan Province increases the stock of rural human capital in this province for a short term.However,in the long run,this accumulation effect will decline along with renewal and aging of knowledge.The positive promotion action of rural human capital on farmers' income will appear after a long lag time.Therefore,the policy of strengthening rural human capital input should be long-term and continuous.

Research on Measures to Promote Rural Community Construction Pilot Work

Rural community construction is an important part in the construction of a socialist countryside with Chinese characteristics, and a significant measure to consolidate the foundation of the Party's governance in the rural areas. To further promote the rural community construction pilot work we must develop rural economies to lay a solid industrial foundation for rural community construction, increase farmers' income, enhance the effective cohesive force, foster new types of farmers, cultivate reliable contributors, develop rural cultures, create a good cultural environment, improve the environment, build good ecological conditions, innovate organization and management, provide powerful organizational guarantees, and improve the service system to support good social conditions.

Prevalence of Diabetes Mellitus among Adult Residents of Tinda Rural Community, Nigeria

Aim: Diabetes mellitus (DM) is an emerging disease of public health concern in Nigeria. There has been growing speculation about rural dwellers not being susceptible to this ailment due to their lifestyle. However, this could be attributed to the paucity of data obtained from rural communities. This community-based survey was conducted to provide recent data about the prevalence of DM in a rural community in Northern Nigeria. Subject and Methods: Purposive sampling was used to recruit 78 participants from about 200 adults within the community in September 2019. Consent was obtained to retrieve their blood glucose results and socio-demographic data from an out-patient clinic. Data were entered and analyzed using SPSS version 20. Results: Over half (55%) of the respondents were male, while majority (88%) were involved in agrarian professions. Majority (69%) of the respondents were between 18 to 35 years, while around 10% were over 50 years. The respondents had an average blood glucose level of 5.20 ± 0.62 mmol/L, with 6.50 mmol/L as the maximum reading. The prevalence of DM was 0.0%, majority (68%) had normal glucose level, while the remainder had pre-diabetes glucose levels. There were no statistically significant associations between the respondents’ blood glucose level and any of their socio-demographic characteristics. However, the oldest respondents, male respondents, and traders had the highest blood glucose levels in their respective categories. Conclusion: The absence of a healthcare center in the community was of concern, as this would impede efforts to monitor the prevalence of non-communicable disease like DM. It is recommended that health interventions to discourage the rural dwellers from embracing adverse urban lifestyles associated with DM should be prioritized.

Impact of COVID-19 on Agriculture,Countryside and Farmers and Countermeasures

COVID-19 outbreak has great impact on agricultural and rural farmers.In order to effectively cope with the impact of COVID-19 epidemic and promote agricultural and rural development,this paper expounds the impact of the epidemic from three aspects of agricultural production,farmers and rural development,and puts forward corresponding countermeasures:building development platform for rural electric business,implementing the development mode of"Internet plus agriculture",strengthening the input and publicity of agricultural insurance to benefit farmers,and increasing support for local employment and entrepreneurship of migrant workers.

New Rural Community Planning to Cope with the Coordinated “Threezation”

The paper targets at reasonable planning and construction of new rural communities on the basis of coordinated "three-zation"(new urbanization, industrialization and agricultural modernization, hereinafter referred to as "three-zation"). Through summarizing the connotations of new rural community construction coping with the coordinated "three-zation", and analyzing the role of new rural community in the "three-zation", planning and design of Gaocun Community was taken for example to propose strategies for the planning and construction of new rural communities, and promotion of the coordinated "three-zation".

Guidelines for Community-Based HIV/AIDS Stigma Reduction Intervention in a Rural Community

Research encourages evidence-based guidelines for practice. This paper describes the guidelines for HIV/AIDS stigma reduction in the community. These guidelines were developed by the authors based on findings of the study which was conducted to develop and evaluate HIV/AIDS stigma reduction intervention in a rural Namibian community. The developed intervention consisted of three strategies which are recommended as baseline for these guidelines. The three strategies were: education, community involvement and contacts with infected and affected groups that were implemented in this study. These strategies were implemented among the people living with HIV/AIDS (PLWHA), their families and community members from the intervention group. The post-intervention results showed significant differences on stigma reduction between the intervention and control groups, therefore these strategies were recommended for future use. Furthermore, the study found that a combination of strategies was more effective than using a single approach. Another strategy that was absent in this study but was recommended in these guidelines for future stigma reduction was: counselling approach, which could be used to address internal stigma. This paper therefore recommends that these combined strategies: education, community involvement, contacts with affected and infected groups and continuous counselling, which will be named ECCC approach might be useful to reduce HIV/AIDS stigma in the community.

A Home for the Aged in a Rural Community

Both in their mid-70s, Shan Baorui and his wife are now living at a model home for the aged in north China.The couple lives in a single room with heating in winter and an indoor toilet. Outside is a garden-like compound with flowers colorfully bright in the refresh- ing breeze.

Research of Spatial Construction Strategy in Chinese New Rural Community

Through the field survey of traditional rural settlement,it has found that the typical spatial construction model shows the duality of matrix and landmark and they are in a relation of reciprocal causality.However,under the impact of urbanization and modernization,this spatial construction model is disappearing,and those natural villages are integrated and reconstructed at a high speed and in a large scale during the construction of new rural communities,leading to a lack of geographical construction system and a damage of ecological living environment.In the perspective of prototype theory,the duality feature should be combined with spatial construction model to guide the inheritance and application of spatial construction model of traditional rural settlements and seek for new spatial development approach for new rural communities based on the sustainable,alternative and transformation strategies.

A Study of a Rudimentary Potable Water System in a Rural Community

A comprehensive study was conducted to evaluate a rural community’s efforts to solve its potable water problem. Residents of St. Margaret village has built a rudimentary water storage facility through their community efforts and run a network of water supply to the households of the village. The study analyzed the water quality of the reservoir for physical, chemical and microbiological parameters by using standard water quality measurements and compared it between the wet and the dry seasons. The results indicate that the temperature and the pH were highest in the month of April. The phosphate level was high during the month of November whereas the dissolved oxygen level was lowest during November. The presence of fecal coliforms and other pathogenic microbes such as Salmonella and Shigella suggested that the water bodies are not safe for human consumption. The survey of the households in the village also revealed that health ailments associated with gastrointestinal tract are common among the people using the water for drinking purpose. The community’s effort in finding solution to their potable water problem has been demonstrated in the design and execution of the rudimentary reservoir in the St. Margaret village. Although majority of the inhabitants of the village have only primary-level education, they were able to carry out a major engineering project.