Ayelign Mengesha Kassie | The University of Queensland, Australia (original) (raw)

Papers by Ayelign Mengesha Kassie

Background There is no consistent operationalization of effective coverage (EC) across studies. T... more Background There is no consistent operationalization of effective coverage (EC) across studies. Therefore, this scoping review synthesized evidence on the definitions and measurement approaches, outcomes reported, and the factors that are associated with variations in quality-adjusted EC estimates of maternal and neonatal healthcare services in low-and middle-income countries. Methods Article search was conducted using PubMed, Embase, Google Scholar, and other databases. Then, title, abstract, and full text screenings for inclusion were performed by two authors independently and disagreements were resolved through discussion. In case of duplication, the full-text published articles were retained, and the results are presented using the Preferred Reporting Items for Systematic Reviews and Meta-analysis extension for Scoping Reviews checklist as a guide. Results Overall, 36 articles were included in this scoping review. In most articles, EC has been defined from the perspectives of people in need utilizing healthcare services in well-equipped health facilities and from actual receipt of quality services. In addition, usage, instead of need, has been used as a domain in estimating EC in some instances. Effective coverage ranged from 0% for different services including for post-partum care, to 84% for antenatal care. Moreover, different socio-demographic factors including wealth index, education, and residence are found to have an association with variations in EC of maternal and neonatal healthcare services with the wealthiest, most educated, and those living in urban areas having higher estimates. From the supply side, numerous factors, particularly health facility capacity-related constraints, have been reported to be associated with low EC of those services. Conclusions The variability in the definition and measurement approaches of EC across studies emphasizes the need for standardization for better comparison in future research. We recommend that quality-adjusted EC be defined in two ways: intervention-specific service delivery EC and general service delivery EC. In addition, disparities in EC are observed among women with different socioeconomic status including educational level and wealth index. Organizational capacity constraints and other health system and societal factors also contributed to variations in EC.

BMC health services research, Apr 8, 2024

Introduction: Healthcare systems are currently facing challenges in enhancing access and improvin... more Introduction: Healthcare systems are currently facing challenges in enhancing access and improving the quality of healthcare services around the world, and one of the innovative strategies that have been utilized to address such challenges is the positive deviance (PD) approach. The approach assumes that identifying, examining, understanding, and disseminating solutions to problems that are already available within the community and organizations including the healthcare system can help in bringing improvements at scale. However, to the best of the researcher's knowledge, there is no scoping review that is conducted to map and synthesize the available evidence on the use of the PD approach for healthcare system service improvements. Hence, this scoping review aims to map and synthesize resources on the methodologies and reported outcomes and identify gaps and potentials regarding the use of the PD approach in the healthcare system. Methods and analysis: Articles will be searched...

Open Journal of Preventive Medicine, 2017

Cervical cancer is a serious health concern in Uganda. Early screening and detection certainly im... more Cervical cancer is a serious health concern in Uganda. Early screening and detection certainly improves chances of survival and treatment outcome. Sound knowledge and positive attitudes highly influence acceptability and uptake of screening methods. This descriptive cross-sectional study determines knowledge and attitudes towards Cervical Cancer screening amongst female outpatients aged 15-49 years, attending Health Centre IIIs in Oyam District, Northern Uganda. A systematically obtained sample of 445 respondents was interviewed using semi-structured questionnaires and focused group discussions. Quantitative data was analyzed using SPSS 16.0. Directed content analysis of themes of transcribed qualitative data was conducted manually. Of the 445 respondents, only 62.7% (n = 279) had heard of cervical cancer amongst which only 35.1% (n = 85) had been screened; 13.7% (n = 34) did not know what screening was; 3.7% (n = 9) were not sure and 5.8% (n = 14) knew it as removal of the cervix. Only 39.1% (n = 174) believed that cervical cancer can be prevented. There is still limited knowledge and lots of misconceptions about cervical cancer screening in the communities, which requires massive sensitization of the population at risk to change negative attitudes and maximize acceptability to screening methods.

Research Square (Research Square), Jul 29, 2019

Background: Intestinal parasitic infection triggered considerable gastrointestinal morbidity, mal... more Background: Intestinal parasitic infection triggered considerable gastrointestinal morbidity, malnutrition and mortality worldwide, particularly among young children in developing countries. In magnitude, Helminthiasis affect 10%-20% of preschool children worldwide. In addition, small children below 5 years are uniquely susceptible to intestinal parasitic infestation in the poor community because of their childhood behavior like playing with soil and putting hand to mouth habit. Thus, the aim of this study is to assess the prevalence and risk factors of intestinal parasitic infection among preschool children in Sekota town, Ethiopia. Methods: a community based cross-sectional study was completed on 378 preschool children in Sekota town from February 15-March 10/2019. Stool specimens were collected and examined for intestinal parasites using wet mount and formyl-ether concentration techniques. The risk factors of intestinal parasite were also assessed using a pre-tested structured questionnaire. The data were entered and analyze using Epi-data version 4.1 and SPSS-version 23 statistical software respectively. Both bivariable and multivariable analysis was carried out. Potential co-linearity was considered and tested. Variables with P-value less than 0.05 in multivariable analysis were considered as statistically signi cant. Results: The prevalence of intestinal parasitic infection in Sekota town on wet mount and concentration techniques was 83 (21.9%) and 113 (29.9%) respectively. On multivariable analysis deworming (AOR, (95% CI), (2.5(1.5-4.3), presence of animal in the living room (AOR, (95% CI) (3.1(1.8-5.3), and occupation (AOR, (95% CI) (3.4 (1.1-10.0) were increase the odds of intestinal parasitic infections. Conclusion: The prevalence of intestinal parasitic infection in Sekota town is high, which is a public health problem. The risk factors that contribute for intestinal parasitic infection in this study are preventable and modi able. These are deworming, having animals in the living room, and occupation. Therefore, care should emphasis on periodical deworming, and campaign either through health education or visiting the home of the community. Whenever possible nancially, double and above rooms would be recommended for the community of the town, in particular the animals should be lived in isolated rooms.

Cancer Control, 2021

Background:Breast self-examination (BSE) is one of the most feasible methods of screening for ear... more Background:Breast self-examination (BSE) is one of the most feasible methods of screening for early stages of breast cancer. However, the practice rate is insufficient in many low and middle-income countries including Ethiopia. Hence, this study aimed to estimate the pooled prevalence of BSE practice among female university students in Ethiopia.Methods:PubMed, Cochrane Library, Scopus, and Google Scholar were searched for studies that assessed BSE practice among female students in Ethiopian universities. The study included articles published from January 1st, 2010 to June 16th, 2020. The Cochran’s Q chi-square and the respective I2test statistics were used to check heterogeneity among the included studies. To assess publication biases, the funnel plot and Egger’s regression tests were employed. Subgroup analysis was done by using different characteristics of studies. Sensitivity analysis was also run to assess the effect of a single study on the pooled outcome. STATA™ Version 14 software packages were employed for data analysis.Results:Sixteen (n = 16) studies with 5,743 participants were included to estimate the pooled prevalence of BSE practice. The prevalence of regular BSE practice reported in the studies ranges from 0% to 26.4%. The estimated pooled prevalence of regular BSE practice among university students in Ethiopia is 11.23% which is very low. The prevalence of BSE practice was high, 13.6% in studies published before 2015, 12.0% among health science students, and 12.6% in studies with a sample size of 384 participants and above. In addition, the estimated pooled prevalence of irregular self-breast-examination practice was 33.28%.Conclusion:The rate of BSE practice among female university students is low. Thus, awareness strategies need to be designed to increase the practice rate among women in the country as BSE is one of the most feasible strategies in early detection of breast cancer if properly implemented.

Pediatric Health, Medicine and Therapeutics, Jun 1, 2020

Background: Intestinal parasites (IP) are a major public health problem in several developing cou... more Background: Intestinal parasites (IP) are a major public health problem in several developing countries. It accounts for 1.5 billion infections with one or more intestinal parasitic agents. The prevalence of helminthiases in Ethiopia is 29.8% with variable degree of prevalence among the different regions. Young children have a high infestation rate and suffer a substantial burden of Ascaris lumbricoides, Trichuris trichiura, and Schistosomes. Intestinal parasitic infections have serious consequences for human health; such as hepatomegaly, splenomegaly, esophageal varices, and delay in physical development. Therefore, this study was intended to assess mothers' knowledge, attitude, and practice on prevention and control of intestinal parasitic infestations. Methods: A cross-sectional study was carried out on 378 mothers who had under six and over two year old children. Although 384 mothers were selected using sample size calculation, the data were collected from 378 mother-child pairs using a face to face interview-based questionnaire. The level of maternal knowledge, attitude, and practice are presented in the form of percentage, frequency, and tables. In order to ensure the quality of data, in all of the data collection, data analysis, and write up, a standard operational procedure was followed. Results: The overall level of good maternal knowledge, positive attitude, and good practice in preventing and controlling intestinal parasitic infection concerning preschool children in Sekota town was 45.2%, 55.3%, and 51.1% respectively. Seventy-seven (20.4%) respondents reported that they knew about A. lumbricoides, and 62 (16.4%) participants washed vegetables as a means of intestinal prevention. Conclusion: The overall level of optimum knowledge, attitude, and practice of mothers on prevention and control of intestinal parasites is significantly low. Therefore, community awareness about intestinal parasitic infestation prevention and control should be created through campaigns or structured training.

Background: Intestinal parasites were a major public health problem in many developing countries.... more Background: Intestinal parasites were a major public health problem in many developing countries. It accounts for 1.5 billion infections with one or more causative agents. The national prevalence of helminthiasis in Ethiopia was 29.8% with considerable variability across the different regions. Young children had a high infection rate and suffered with a substantial worm burden of A. lumbricoides, trichuris trichiura and schistosomes. Parasitic infection has also serious consequences on human health, such as hepatomegaly, bleeding, esophageal varices, delay in physical development. It also decreases the immunity system, level of intelligence, and labor productivity. Therefore, this study was intended to assess mothers' knowledge, attitude and practice on prevention and control of intestinal parasitic infection among their preschool children in Sekota town, Waghimra zone, Ethiopia Methods: A cross sectional study was carried out on 378 mothers who had under six years but over two years old children. Although, 384 mothers were selected using sample size calculation in the year 2019, the data was collected from 378 mother-child pairs. A face to face interview was performed using pretested and structured questionnaire in the urban villages, Sekota town. The level of maternal knowledge, attitude and practice were presented in percentage, frequence and table. In each step standard operational procedures were followed. Results: The overall level of good knowledge or knoledgable, positive attitude and good practice of mothers towards intestinal parasites prevention and control in considering their preschool children in Sekota town was 45.2%, 55.3% and 51.1% respectively. Seventy-seven 77(20.4%) respondents reported that they knew Ascaris Lumbricoids , 62 (16.4%) participants wash vegetables as a means of intestinal prevention, and 252 (66.7%) of participants stated that their children had at least one stool examination previously. Conclusions: The overall level of optimum knowledge, attitude and practice of mothers on prevention and control of intestinal parasites is low. In particular, the level of optimal knowledge is very low in this study. According to the median parameter, 50% and above of mothers had both positive attitude and good practice. But mothers who were knowledgeable placed below 50%. Therefore, community awareness about parasitic infestation would be created.

Frontiers in Pediatrics, Nov 10, 2021

Background: Prevention of mother-to-child transmission of HIV program (PMTCT) is a comprehensive ... more Background: Prevention of mother-to-child transmission of HIV program (PMTCT) is a comprehensive approach that aimed for the wellbeing of all HIV-infected women, to prevent new HIV infection among infants born to HIV-positive mothers, and providing management for HIV-positive women and infants. Nevertheless, there was considerably high attrition within the prevention of mother-to-child transmission programs that was merely because of loss to follow-up (LTFU) followed by mortality. In resource-limited countries, one-third of infected children die before 1 year, and more than half of them die before 2 years. The aim of this study was to assess the prevalence or incidence of mortality and LTFU among infants born from HIV-positive mothers in the Amhara regional state referral hospitals, Ethiopia. Methods: This study was conducted in five Amhara regional state referral hospitals' prevention of mother-to-child transmission departments. A simple random sampling technique with proportional allocation was used to assess the outcomes of 221 exposed infants. A retrospective cohort design was used in selecting the 221 exposed infants' document from the referral hospitals of the region, Amhara. The exposed infants' profiles were documented between January 1, 2014 and May 30, 2017. Results: This study described attritions (death and loss-to-follow-up) of exposed babies in PMTCT departments of Amhara regional state referral hospitals in Ethiopia. In this study, low LTFU with zero death was reported. Residence, immunization status of babies, and place of delivery were independent factors of LTFU. Conclusions: The cumulative incidence of mortality in this study was zero. This assured that the recommended option is substantial for the elimination of HIV-caused death in 2030 as per WHO plan. However, the cumulative incidence of LTFU was not zero.

PLOS ONE, Dec 8, 2020

Introduction Cervical cancer is a major public health problem, particularly in resource-limited s... more Introduction Cervical cancer is a major public health problem, particularly in resource-limited settings. The use of vaccination and screening tests has reduced the burden of cervical cancer in developed countries. However, the situation is quite the reverse in developing countries, including Ethiopia. Hence, this study aimed to estimate the pooled impact of knowledge and attitude on the prevalence of cervical cancer screening service utilization rates among Ethiopian women. Methods Studies that examined cervical cancer screening service utilization among women in Ethiopia were searched from five international databases. Cochran's Q chi-square and the Isquared test statistics were used to check the presence of heterogeneity among the included studies. The funnel plot and Egger's regression tests were also used to assess the presence of publication bias. A weighted DerSimonian and Laird random-effects model was employed. Subgroup analysis was performed by the study population concerning the prevalence of cervical cancer screening service utilization rates. Sensitivity analysis was also conducted to assess the effect of a single study on the pooled estimates. Data analysis was performed using STATA™ Version 14 software. Results A total of 44 studies with 28,186 study participants were included. The estimated pooled prevalence of cervical cancer screening service utilization was 8.11% (95% CI: 7.26, 8.97). After adjustment for publication bias with the trim and fill analysis, the estimated prevalence rate appeared to be 5.47% (95% CI: 4.66, 6.28). The prevalence of cervical cancer screening service utilization was higher among HIV-positive women, 16.85%, and in studies

Journal of Environmental and Public Health, Jul 27, 2020

Background. Underweight is defined as being below the healthy weight range. Underweight in reprod... more Background. Underweight is defined as being below the healthy weight range. Underweight in reproductive age group women not only affects women but also increases the risk of an intergenerational cycle of malnutrition and child mortality. Various factors are linked with underweight among women. However, studies on the prevalence of underweight and its associated factors among women are limited in Ethiopia. Hence, this study aimed to assess the prevalence of underweight and its associated factors among reproductive age group women in Ethiopia. Methods. For this study, data were drawn from the 2016 Ethiopian demographic and health survey (EDHS). From the total, 15,683 women participants of the 2016 EDHS; a subsample of 2,848 participants aged 15-49 years who had a complete response to all variables of interest were selected and utilized for analysis. Data were analyzed using SPSS version 20 software program. Pearson's chi-squared test was used to assess the frequency distribution of underweight and is presented with different sociodemographic characteristics. Logistic regression models were applied for analysis. A two-sided p value of less than 0.05 was used to declare a statistically significant association between the independent variables and underweight among women. Results. e prevalence of underweight among reproductive age group women in Ethiopia was 17.6%. e majority, 78.3% of underweight women, were rural dwellers. e odds of being underweight was higher among the young aged women, among those residing in rural areas, in those with higher educational status, and in those who have one or more children. On the other hand, the odds of underweight among respondents living in Benishangul, SNNPR, and Addis Ababa were less compared to those living in Dire Dawa. Similarly, the odds of underweight among participants with a higher level of husband or partner educational status and among those who chew Khat were less compared to their counterparts. Conclusion. Underweight among reproductive age group women in Ethiopia is still a major public health problem, particularly among rural dwellers. Underweight was significantly associated with different sociodemographic variables. Hence, context-based awareness creation programs need to be designed on the prevention methods of underweight in Ethiopia, giving especial emphasis to those residing in rural areas.

BMC Pregnancy and Childbirth, Mar 9, 2021

Background: Globally, 4 million infants die in their first 4weeks of life every year; above 8 mil... more Background: Globally, 4 million infants die in their first 4weeks of life every year; above 8 million infants died before their first year of birthday, and nearly 10 million children died before their 5th birthday. Majority of the deaths were occurred at home because of not receiving health care. In Ethiopia, 120,000 infants died during their first 4 weeks of life. The aim of this study was to assess maternal knowledge about neonatal danger signs and its associations after they had been thought by health professionals in Ethiopia. Methods: This study used the 2016 Ethiopian Demographic and Health Survey data (EDHS) as a data source. The 2016 EDHS data were collected using a two stage sampling method. All the regions were stratified into urban and rural areas. The study sample taken from the 2016 EDHS data and used in this further analysis was 325. A logistic regression model was used to assess the associations with post health education maternal knowledge on neonatal danger signs. Results: In this study, mothers who had poor knowledge about neonatal danger signs (NDS) were 69.8 % (227) (95 %CI (64.8, 74.8 %). In the final logistic model, wanted no more child ((AOR = 4.15), (95 %CI = 1.12, 15.41)), female child ((AOR = 0.58), (95 %CI = 0.34, 0.98)), primary level maternal education ((AOR = 0.42), (95 %CI = 0.19, 0.92)), secondary level maternal education ((AOR = 0.37), (95 %CI = 0.16, 0.91)), and average size of child ((AOR = 2.64), (95 %CI = 1.26, 5.53)), and small size child ((AOR = 4.53), (95 %CI = 1.52, 13.51)) associated with post health education maternal knowledge about NDS. Conclusion: The mothers' knowledge about NDS is poor even they were gave a birth in health facilities. Wanting of additional child, child sex, maternal education and size of child were associated with NDS knowledge. This indicates that the mode of health education provided for mother might not be appropriate and needs protocol changes.

Research Square (Research Square), Oct 21, 2019

Background: In Ethiopia uncomplicated severe acute malnutrition is managed through the outpatient... more Background: In Ethiopia uncomplicated severe acute malnutrition is managed through the outpatient therapeutic program at health posts level. This brings the services for the management of Severe Acute Malnutrition closer to the community by making services available at decentralized treatment points within the primary health care settings. So far, evidence on the treatment outcome of the program is limited. Thus, the main aim of this study was to determine the magnitude of treatment outcomes of severe acute malnutrition and associated factors among under-five children at outpatient therapeutic feeding units. Methods: This was a retrospective cohort study conducted on 600 children who had been managed for SAM under OTP in Gubalafto Wereda from April to May/2019. The children were selected using systematic random sampling from 9 health posts. The structured, pre-tested and adapted questionnaire was used to collect the data. The data was entered by using EPI-data Version 4.2 and exported to SPSS version 24.0 for analysis. Bivariate and Multivariate regression was also carried out to determine the association between dependent and independent variables. Results: A total of 600 records of children with a diagnosis of severe acute malnutrition were reviewed. Of these cases of malnutrition, the recovery rate was revealed as 65 %. The death rate, default rate, and medical transfer were 2.0, 16.0, and 17.0 respectively. Children who took immunization were had 6.85 times higher odds of recovery than children who were not immunized (AOR=6.85 at 95% CI (3.68-12.76)). The likelihood of recovery was 3.78 times higher among children with new admission than those with re-admission (AOR=3.78at 95% CI ((1.77-8.07))). Likewise, children provided with amoxicillin were 3.38 times more likely to recover compared to their counterparts who were not provided (AOR=3.38 at 95% CI ((1.61-7.08))). Conclusions: The recovery rate and medical transfer were lower than sphere standard. Presence of cough, presence of diarrhea admission category, provision of amoxicillin, and immunization status were factors identified as significantly associated with treatment outcome of Sever Acute Malnutrition. Building capacity of OTP service providers and regular monitoring of service provision based on the management protocol were recommended.

BMC Public Health, Jul 31, 2020

Background: Globally, the prevalence of overweight and obesity is escalating, particularly among ... more Background: Globally, the prevalence of overweight and obesity is escalating, particularly among women and wealthier people. In many developed countries, overweight and obesity are more prevalent in persons with lower socioeconomic status. In contrast, studies in developing countries have reported a higher prevalence rate of overweight and obesity among women with higher educational status. Hence, this study aimed to assess the association between education and the prevalence of overweight and obesity among reproductive age group women in Ethiopia. Methods: This cross-sectional study was done based on the 2016 Ethiopian demographic and health survey (EDHS) data. From the total 15,683 women participants of the 2016 EDHS, 2848 reproductive age group women aged 15-49 years old who had a complete response to all variables of interest were selected and retained for analysis. Data were analyzed using SPSS version 20 software program. Both descriptive and logistic regression models were used for analysis. Results: The prevalence of overweight and obesity among the study participants was 11.5 and 3.4% respectively. The combined prevalence of overweight and obesity was 14.9%. From the total participants who are overweight and, or obese, majority, 83.3% were urban dwellers and the remaining 16.7% were rural dwellers. Education was positively associated with overweight and obesity among women. Besides, increased age, region, living in urban areas, being in rich quintile, increased frequency of watching television, and frequency of using internet were significantly associated with the odds of being overweight and obese among reproductive age group women in Ethiopia. Conclusions: The prevalence of overweight and obesity among reproductive age group women in Ethiopia is increasing compared to previous studies. Education was found to be a risk factor for overweight and obesity among women. Hence, context based interventions on the prevention and control methods of overweight and obesity are required.

Research Square (Research Square), Sep 24, 2019

Background Fertility is the actual childbearing performance of a population. When there is no sig... more Background Fertility is the actual childbearing performance of a population. When there is no significant migration, at any level of mortality, changes in fertility cause variations in the rate of natural increase and exert a powerful influence on the age structure. The global population increased from 2•6 billion in 1950 to 7•6 billion in 2017 and the Ethiopian population become 100 million. Therefore, this review was aimed to assess the trends of fertility in the regions and administrative cities of Ethiopia in the last 5 decades. Methods: both quantitative and qualitative study design were considered for the review. The PubMed databases, and Gray literatures (Google scholar, organizations' research works, Academia, and Research get) were used as source of data for searching. The JBI critical appraisal tool were used to assess the quality of papers after including for review by abstract and title. Results: on initial searching 8503 papers were identified from PubMed databases. Of these papers only 28 studies for quantitative and 15 for qualitative analysis were selected based on JBI critical appraisal checklist. The rate of fertility in Ethiopia decrease radically from 8.1 in 1965 to 4.0 in 2016. The mean fertility rate with standard variation for both urban and rural Ethiopia is (6.03 + 1.3) in the last 51 years. Conclusions and recommendations: The fertility rate of Ethiopia become declined since the starting of contraceptive utilization even though it is not similar across the different regions. Some of the regions like Afar and Somalia become more fecundate irrespective of the country growth and development and others like Amhara region had the highest decline in fertility. The minister of health should explore the causes of high fertility in Afar and Somalia regions. Ethics and dissemination: The review is based on published data, and ethical approval did not require.

International Journal of Infectious Diseases, Jun 1, 2020

Background: Elimination of mother-to-child transmission of human immunodeficiency virus (HIV) has... more Background: Elimination of mother-to-child transmission of human immunodeficiency virus (HIV) has been a global public health priority. In 2013, the World Health Organization recommended antiretroviral therapy administration to all HIV-positive pregnant and breastfeeding women regardless of the CD4 cell count or clinical stage, referred to 'Option B+'. Ethiopia has had a high prevalence of mother-to-child transmission of HIV. The prevalence of transmission in breastfeeding mothers was 24% in 2012 and increased to more than 30% in 2015. Thus, the aim of this study was to determine the prevalence of HIV transmission and its associations among infants born to HIV-positive mothers who had enrolled with the five Amhara regional state referral hospitals' prevention of mother-to-child HIV transmission departments, Ethiopia. Methods: The study used a retrospective single cohort design, and simple random sampling with proportional allocation to select the medical records of 217 exposed infants. The data collected from each hospital were documented from January 1, 2014 to May 30, 2017. The cumulative incidence and prevalence of HIV transmission among exposed infants in the region were presented using figures and tables. Results: The prevalence of HIV transmission among exposed infants at enrollment to the program was 2.3% (five cases) (95% CI, 0.5-4.6%), whereas the prevalence of HIV transmission among exposed infants on completion of the program was 3.7% (8) (95% CI, 1.4-6.5%). The cumulative incidence of transmission on completing the program was 1.6% (3) (95% CI, 0.0-3.2%). Conclusions: In contrast to the expected outcome of the World Health Organization's 'Option B+' guidelines regarding HIV transmission, this study found the cumulative incidence of HIV transmission on completing the program and the overall prevalence of HIV infection to be high. Although some studies have reported significant reductions in mother-to-child transmission of HIV, there are still considerable challenges in preventing this transmission in the Amhara region.

PLOS ONE, Feb 23, 2021

Background Epilepsy is thought to be caused by witchcraft, evil spirit, and God's punishment for ... more Background Epilepsy is thought to be caused by witchcraft, evil spirit, and God's punishment for sins in many developing countries. As a result, people with epilepsy and their families usually suffer from stigma, discrimination, depression, and other psychiatric problems. Thus, this study aimed to assess the quality of life and its associated factors among epileptic patients attending public hospitals in North Wollo Zone, Northeast Ethiopia. Methods An institution-based cross-sectional study design was employed in this study. A simple random sampling technique was utilized. Health-related quality of life was measured based on the total score of the Quality of Life in Epilepsy Inventory (QOLIE-31) instrument. Data were entered into Epi-data 3.1 statistical package and exported to SPSS Version 20 for further analysis. Linear regression models were used to assess the relationship between quality of life and the independent variables. Statistically significant values were declared at a P-value of < 0.05. Results A total of 395 patients participated in the study making the response rate 98.5%. The mean age of the participants was 32.39 ±10.71 years. More than half, 199 (50.4%) of epileptic patients had an overall weighted average health related quality of life score of mean and above. Male sex (B = 4.34, 95%CI, 0.41, 8.27, P = 0.03), higher educational status (B = 7.18, 95%CI, 1.39, 13.00, P = 0.015) and age at onset of epilepsy (B = 0.237, 95%CI, 0.02, 0.45, P = 0.035) were associated with increased health related quality of life score. On the other hand, family history of epilepsy (B =-4.78, 95%CI,-9.24,-0.33, P = 0.035), uncontrolled

Journal of Pediatric Nursing, May 1, 2020

Background: Despite improvements in the reduction of child stunting rates over the last decade, p... more Background: Despite improvements in the reduction of child stunting rates over the last decade, poor nutritional status still remains a public health concern in Bangladesh, where young children are the most vulnerable. Objective: The objective of this study is to capture the prevalence and determinants of childhood stunting and documenting its urban-rural disparities in the context of Bangladesh. Methods: The study used data from the Bangladesh Demographic and Health Survey of 2014. A bivariate analysis was performed to find out the differentials in prevalence of stunting, and multivariate logistic regression was performed to also assess the association of stunting with potential risk factors. Results: The overall prevalence of stunting was 36.3% and was significantly higher in rural (38.1%) areas than urban (31.2%) areas. In all 3 regression models, significantly higher odds were found among children aged 36 to 47 months compared to 6 to 12 months and among the children from the poorest households. In rural areas, male children were significantly more likely to be stunted (odds ratio ¼ 1.31; 95% confidence interval: 1.12-1.53). Other significant risk factors for childhood stunting were maternal education and body mass index, children suffering from diarrhea, initial breast-feeding, and administrative divisions. Conclusions: Disparities exist among urban and rural areas regarding stunting among the children younger than 5 in Bangladesh, which need to be reduced. Public health policies and interventions need to consider the risk factors in urban and rural areas separately.

Depression Research and Treatment

Background. Depression is a psychiatric disorder that is characterized by persistent sadness and ... more Background. Depression is a psychiatric disorder that is characterized by persistent sadness and a lack of interest or pleasure in previously rewarding and enjoyable activities. It is one of the leading mental disorders among prisoners worldwide. However, little attention is given to this condition, especially in developing countries. Hence, this study was aimed at assessing the prevalence of depression and its associated factors among prisoners in North Wollo Zone Correctional Institutions, Ethiopia. Methods. A cross-sectional study was carried out among 407 prisoners from November 20 to December 20, 2020. A simple random sampling technique was employed to select the study participants, and the Patient Health Questionnaire-9 (PHQ-9) was utilized to measure the prevalence of depression among prisoners. Data analyses were done using SPSS version 20 software program. Descriptive and inferential statistics including bivariate and multivariable regression analyses were run to assess the...