Gynaecological Health of Women Attending Hospital in Oil City of Port Harcourt in the Niger Delta Region of Nigeria

Author(s): Felix M Onyije, Ajuluchukwu Azubuike Ngokere, Aloysius Ebi Ligha, Godwin Ovie Avwioro, Osaro Mgbere

Introduction: Increasingly, residents of the Niger Delta region of Nigeria are reporting health impacts that they believe are linked to environmental pollutions from oil and gas activities. Hence, the objective of this study was to assess the gynaecological health of women in the Oil City of Port Harcourt in the Niger Delta Region of Nigeria.

Methods: Data used for this study (n=697) were obtained from the Rivers State University Teaching Hospital (RSUTH) in Port Harcourt, Nigeria. The patients had partial or total hysterectomy or diagnosed of gynaecological lesion. Data obtained were subjected to both descriptive and inferential statistics using SAS 9.4 version (SAS Institute, Cary, NC, USA).

Results: The distribution of the gynaecological lesions differed significantly (p<0.001) by year of diagnosis, developmental stage, age category and types of lesion. Leiomyoma was the highest number of lesions identified (56.0%, n=390), followed by ovarian cyst (10.0%, n=70) and retained product of conception (8.0%, n=56). Women of age group 30-39 years and 40-49 years had the highest number of lesions during the study period with a range of 21-71% and 17-34 %, respectively.

Conclusion: The prevalence and characteristics of gynaecological lesions in our study sample point to the potential public health consequences, and strong need for creation of awareness campaigns and general health assessment in the Niger Delta region of Nigeria.