Full Blood Count Amongst Residential And Non Residential Students In Imo State University, Owerri

ABSTRACT

There seem to be marked difference between the health status of residential and non-residential students and there is need to check and compare the full blood count of residential students with that of the non-residential students which would give better information about the health status of the students. This work was carried out with the aim of determining and comparing the full blood count (FBC) of residential and non-residential students of Imo State University. Thirty (30) residential students and thirty (30) non-residential students were recruited for  the work. 4ml of blood was collected from each of the patients and analyzed for full blood count using the manual method. The results of the analysis showed that the haemoglobin concentration, packed cell volume (PCV), total white blood cell count and neutrophil count of the non-residential students were statistically higher (P < 0.05) than that of the residential students. Meanwhile, the lymphocyte count of the residential students was statistically higher (P < 0.05) than that of the residential students. It has been suggested that the possible difference might be as a result of poor nutrition on the side of the residential students. It is therefore of paramount importance for the nutrition and medical laboratory science departments of the instiution to create adequate medical awareness about good feeding habit and personal hygiene among the students.

CHAPTER ONE

INTRODUCTION

Residential life in Imo State university offers a variety of housing options to students who wish to live on campus. Housing options include traditional residence hall rooms, lodges, hostel and suite style options as well as various living and learning communities, (Alaka et al.,2005).

To be eligible for accommodations, your disability must significantly restrict your access to and your participation in the residential community.  Submission of a request does not guarantee approval of accommodations.  Examples of housing accommodations may include modifying rooms to accommodate students with physical access needs, installing visual alarms in residential rooms for students who are deaf or hard of hearing, assigning a student a room with close proximity to the restroom for medical reasons, or assigning a single room to accommodate adaptive technology equipment.  Because of numerous sites on campus that provide reduced distraction study space, housing accommodations are generally not provided for academic related needs. Upon moving into your room, you will receive a Roommate Agreement as well as a guide to completing the agreement. Your Residential administrator will contact you and your roommate(s) to set up a time to go through the agreement together to set expectations for your room, (Alaka et al., 2008).

Universities as citadels of higher learning are likened to communities of higher academic pursuit. Students are the main target for the establishment of any university. Round the world most off the large universities provide some kind of student hostels in the forms of residential halls, apartments, dormitories, and so on for their students. It is expected of every university, to house not only the academic activities but the students the seeking knowledge in various fields of endeavour; hence students accommodation becomes essential, (Archer et al., 2008).  Alaka  sees students accommodation beyond mere proposal for development, to embrace the physical structure offering bundles of services either as a facility from which the social, psychological and physiological activities are attained, or one developed strictly for leisure, as an affordable and safe accommodation.(Bach et al., 2001) As a facility, the design and housing style should address especially the internal space needs, highly needed by the residing students. Jinadu at the year 2001 identifies the psychological, physiological, facility and security requirements as four important qualitative needs that measures the adequacy and habitability of the student housing. Batch 2001 also embraces other measures like healthy, safe and sanitary shelter provision as necessary to harness students educational cultural and recreational needs. Aligned with these descriptions of students hostelling, have identified the minimum hostel facility requirements to include bed/mattresses, writing /reading chair and table, closet, wardrobe or cupboards or chest of drawers, blinds and curtains on windows, laundry rooms, spaces for spread of wet wears, mail boxes, fitness rooms, study rooms, TV lodges, computer labs, outdoor recreational spaces like baseball/ basketball/ volleyball court, convenience store, recreation room, recycling or waste disposal room(s), shared or individual kitchens, share or individual toilets and bathrooms, water supply, electricity supply, gas supply, high speed internet services for room use, cable TV services, and 24 hours security personnel, (Onyike et al., 2010) Generally in the Nigerian universities, the on-campus students accommodation has remained grossly inadequate, leading to the readjustment of the previous bed space arrangements into bunk spaces, and previous room spaces into bed spaces, without actually reducing the rent charged per space readjusted, (Okebukola et al., 2004). Despite this rearrangement by the university management, most students do not benefi t from the school accommodation provision. They thus seek same one outside the campus. This situation has rather intensified the land development and conversion of land uses around institutions of higher learning, (Alaka et al., 2010).

A complete blood count (CBC), also known as a complete blood cell count, full blood count (FBC), or full blood exam(FBE), is a blood panel requested by a doctor or other medical professional that gives information about the cells in a patient’s blood, such as the cell count for each cell type and the concentrations of various proteins and minerals. A scientist or lab technician performs the requested testing and provides the requesting medical professional with the results of the CBC. Blood counts of various types have been used for clinical purposes since the 19th century. Automated equipment to carry out complete blood counts was developed in the 1950s and 1960s, (Isbister et al., 2000). The cells that circulate in the bloodstream are generally divided into three types: white blood cells (leukocytes), red blood cells (erythrocytes), and platelets (thrombocytes). Abnormally high or low counts may indicate the presence of many forms of disease, and hence blood counts are among the most commonly performed blood tests in medicine, as they can provide an overview of a patient’s general health status. A CBC is routinely performed during annual physical examinations in some jurisdictions, (McFerran et al.,1998)

Complete blood counts are done to monitor overall health, to screen for some diseases, to confirm a diagnosis of some medical conditions, to monitor a medical condition, and to monitor changes in the body caused by medical treatments, (Smellie et al.,2006)

For patients who need blood transfusion, a blood count may be used to get data which would help plan an amount of treatment. In such cases, the person should have only one blood count for the day, and the transfusion of red blood cells or platelets should be planned based on that. Multiple blood draws and counts throughout the day are an excessive use of phlebotomy and can lead to unnecessary additional transfusions, and the extra unnecessary treatment would be outside of medical guidelines. (Smellie et al.,2007)

From the above scenario of students hostelling in most of our universities and other citadels of higher learning, it is therefore presumed that in a situation where a university operates a non-residential policy for her students, the provision of these hostel facilities will be far from being fetched. The Imo State University (IMSU), has been operating non-residential policy for her students since inception in 1992. The hostel accommodation needs of her students have since then been carted by the profit-minded private developers with the in Ugwuorji layout, as the largest and closest neighbourhood supporting the private hostel property market. It is the aim of this paper to study the extent to which the private hostel developers have succeeded in addressing the facility, maintenance, security, managerial and accommodation, needs of the Imo State University students in these private hostels at the neighbourhood, (Egwuom et al.,2010)

1.1     JUSTIFICATION OF STUDY

Non-residential students seem to look healthier than the residential students. It’s already documented that non-residential students have access to good nutrition than the residential students. Most of the residential students do not maintain proper hygiene as they tend to share some of their personal materials with other students thereby exposing them to some infections. There is therefore need to check and compare the full blood count of residential students with that of the non-residential students which would give better information about the health status of the students. Hence, the relevance of this work.

1.2     AIM AND OBJECTIVES

AIM

To compare the full blood count or complete blood count of residential students with that of students coming from their respective homes (non-residential students).

OBJECTIVES

1. To detect the levels of haematological indices in residential students
2. To detect the levels of haematological indices in non-residential students.
3. To compare the haematological indices of residential students with that of the non-residential students.

Pages:  85

Category: Project

Format:  Word & PDF

Chapters: 1-5

Material contains Table of Content, Abstract and References