Aleme Mekuria - Academia.edu (original) (raw)

Papers by Aleme Mekuria

Food Science and Nutrition, Sep 5, 2019

Maternal diet during the preconception, pregnancy, and lactation has been linked to the immediate... more Maternal diet during the preconception, pregnancy, and lactation has been linked to the immediate and long-term prenatal outcomes

Anemia, 2016

Background. Anemia during pregnancy is a major cause of morbidity and mortality of pregnant women... more Background. Anemia during pregnancy is a major cause of morbidity and mortality of pregnant women in developing countries and has both maternal and fetal consequences. Despite its known serious effect on health, there is very little research based evidence on this vital public health problem in Gamo Gofa zone in general and in Arba Minch town of Southern Ethiopia in particular. Therefore, this study aims to assess the prevalence and factors associated with anemia among pregnant women attending antenatal care in health institutions of Arba Minch town, Gamo Gofa zone, Southern Ethiopia. Method. Institution-based, cross-sectional study was conducted from February 16 to April 8, 2015, among 332 pregnant women who attended antenatal care at government health institutions of Arba Minch town. Interviewer-administered questionnaire supplemented by laboratory tests was used to obtain the data. Bivariate and multivariate logistic regressions were used to identify predictors of anemia. Result. The prevalence of anemia among antenatal care attendant pregnant women of Arba Minch town was 32.8%. Low average monthly income of the family (AOR = 4.0; 95% CI: 5.62-11.01), having birth interval less than two years (AOR = 3.1; 95% CI: 6.01, 10.23), iron supplementation (AOR = 2.31; 95% CI: 7.21, 9.31), and family size >2 (AOR = 2.8; 95% CI: 1.17, 6.81) were found to be independent predictors of anemia in pregnancy. Conclusion. Anemia is found to be a moderate public health problem in the study area. Low average monthly income, birth interval less than two years, iron supplementation, and large family size were found to be risk factors for anemia in pregnancy. Awareness creation towards birth spacing, nutritional counselling on consumption of iron-rich foods, and iron supplementation are recommended to prevent anemia among pregnant women with special emphasis on those having low income and large family size.

Research Square (Research Square), May 11, 2020

Background Ethiopia plans to introduce social health insurance scheme for the formal sector. The ... more Background Ethiopia plans to introduce social health insurance scheme for the formal sector. The scheme contribution will be collected as 3% of an employee's monthly gross salary from both employee and employer. The scheme is expected to enhance access to health care, however, there is a concern that majority of civil servants were not willing to join and pay for it. Therefore, this study aims to assess willingness to join and pay for the newly proposed social health insurance among public servants in Arba Minch town, Southern Ethiopia. Methods Institution based, Cross-sectional study design was used among 713 randomly selected public servants in Arba Minch town. Multi-stage strati ed random sampling technique was used to select participants. Data were collected by using a pre-tested, self-administered, structured questionnaire and then it was cleaned, coded, entered in to Epidata v.3.2 and exported to SPSS version 25 statistical package for analysis. Multivariate logistic regression was used to identify the predictors of willingness to join and pay for Social Health Insurance. Odds ratio less than 0.05 was used as cutoff point and 95% CI was used to report the nding. Open question contingent valuation method was also used to analyze willingness to pay for the scheme. Result Among the total of 692 respondents, 254 (36.7%) were willing to join the scheme. Out of those who

Heliyon

Background: One of the main components of population dynamics that determine the size, structure,... more Background: One of the main components of population dynamics that determine the size, structure, and composition of a country's population is the number of ever-born children. Psychological, economic, social, and demographic factors all have a strong influence on and predict it. However, there is little information on its current status in Ethiopia. As a result, modeling the number of children ever born and its determinants is critical for the Ethiopian government to develop appropriate policies and programs. Methods: A total of 3260 eligible women were used as a study sample in this study to assess the number of children ever born and determinants among married reproductive age women in Ethiopia. Secondary data were culled from the 2019 Ethiopian Demography and Health Survey datasets. The factors associated with the number of children born were identified using a Poisson regression model (CEB). Results: The average number of children per mother was 6.09, with a standard deviation of 8.74. There were 2432 (74.6%) rural residents among the total respondents, 2402 (73.7%) have no formal education, and three out of five women are not currently working. The participants' average age was 41.66, with a standard deviation of 3.88. When compared to urban residents, the number of CEB for rural residents is 1.37 times higher. When compared to women with no education, the number of CEB for women with higher education was reduced by 48%. For every unit increase in respondents' current age, the percent change in the number of children ever born increases by 2.4%. For every unit increase in the family's wealth index status, the percent change in the number of children ever born decreases by 1.7%.

Food Science & Nutrition, 2019

PLOS ONE, 2022

Background A growing body of evidence demonstrating that individuals with Non-Communicable Diseas... more Background A growing body of evidence demonstrating that individuals with Non-Communicable Disease (NCD) are more likely to have severe forms of COVID-19 and subsequent mortality. Hence, our study aimed to assess the knowledge of vulnerability and preventive practices towards COVID-19 among patients with hypertension or diabetes in Southern Ethiopia. Objective To assess the knowledge and preventive practices towards COVID-19 among patients with hypertension or diabetes mellitus in three zones of Southern Ethiopia, 2020. Methods A community-based cross-sectional study design was used with a multi-stage random sampling technique to select 682 patients with hypertension or diabetes mellitus from 10th -17th July 2020 at the three zones of Southern Ethiopia. Logistic regression analysis with a 95% confidence interval was fitted to identify independent predictors of knowledge and preventive practices towards COVID-19. The adjusted odds ratio (AOR) was used to determine the magnitude of th...

BMC International Health and Human Rights, 2015

Background: Childhood sexual abuse is a major social problem in Africa including Ethiopia. Moreov... more Background: Childhood sexual abuse is a major social problem in Africa including Ethiopia. Moreover, little has been explored about the pattern of childhood sexual abuse in the context of high school students in Ethiopia in general and in Arbaminch town in particular. Thus, the present study aims to assess the prevalence and associated factors of childhood sexual abuse among adolescent female high school students in Arbaminch town. Methods: A school-based, cross-sectional study was conducted among adolescent female high school students in Arbaminch town from 3 rd to 8 th March 2014. Both quantitative and qualitative methods of data collection were used. For the quantitative data, a simple random sampling technique was used to select 369 female students from grade ten of the six high schools. A pre-tested, self-administered questionnaire was used to collect the data and then analysis was made using SPSS version 20 statistical packages. For the qualitative component, fourteen in-depth interviews were conducted and analysed based on the thematic areas. Result: The prevalence of life time rape among adolescent female high school students in Arbaminch town was 11 %. The odds of experiencing life time rape was higher among students who lived alone (AOR = 4.30; 95 % CI: 1.81, 10.24) and among students who lived with their friends (AOR = 3.31; 95 % CI: 1.23, 8.89) than those lived with their parents. The chance of experiencing rape among students who have had no open discussions with their parents about sexuality and reproductive health was higher (AOR = 2.93; 95 % CI: 1.33, 6.45) than those who have had discussions. Conclusion: This study revealed high levels of childhood sexual abuse among the adolescent female high school students in Arbaminch town. Ever having a discussion about sexuality and reproductive health with parents, living arrangement of the student, and father's educational status had statistically significant association with childhood sexual abuse. Unwanted pregnancy and abortion were the most common reproductive outcomes of rape. Comprehensive school based reproductive health education, community based awareness creation, open discussions about sexuality and reproductive health matters with students at family level are recommended.

Ethiopian Journal of Health Sciences

BACKGROUND: Teenage pregnancy has long been a worldwide social, economic and educational concern ... more BACKGROUND: Teenage pregnancy has long been a worldwide social, economic and educational concern for the developed, developing and underdeveloped countries. Studies on adolescent sexuality and pregnancy are very limited in our country. Therefore, this study aims to assess the prevalence of teenage pregnancy and its associated factors among school adolescents of Arba Minch Town. METHODS: Institution-based, cross-sectional study was conducted from 20-30 March 2014. Systematic sampling technique was used to select a total of 578 students from four schools of the town. Data were collected by trained data collectors using a pre-tested, selfadministered structured questionnaire. Analysis was made using SPSS version 20.0 statistical packages. Multivariate logistic regression was used to identify the predictors of teenage pregnancy. RESULTS: The prevalence of teenage pregnancy among school adolescents of Arba Minch Town was 7.7%. Being grade 11 student (AOR=4.6;95%CI:1.4,9.3), grade 12 students (AOR=5.8;95% CI:1.3,14.4), not knowing the exact time to take emergency contraceptives (AOR=3.3;95%CI:1.4,7.4), substance use (AOR=3.1;95%CI:1.1,8.8), living with either of biological parents (AOR=3.3;95%CI:1.1,8.7) and poor parent-daughter interaction (AOR=3.1;95%CI:1.1,8.7) were found to be significant predictors of teenage pregnancy. CONCLUSIONS: This study revealed high level of teenage pregnancy among school adolescents of Arba Minch Town. A significant number of adolescent female students were at risk of facing the challenges of teenage pregnancy in the study area. School-based reproductive health education and strong parentdaughter relationships are recommended.