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Introduction: Podoconiosis is endemic non-filarial elephantiasis of the lower legs swelling caused by barefoot exposure to red clay soil. The burden of disability occurs among the poorest populations. Self-care practice is the most cost-effective prevention strategy practiced at home to improve lymphedema, working functionality, and quality of life. Despite this, there is a scarce of knowledge about self-care practices and associated factors among podoconiosis patients in Ethiopia. Objective: To determine self-care practice and its associated factors among podoconiosis patients in East Gojjam zone North West, Ethiopia. Methods: Community-based cross-sectional study design was used among 633 podoconiosis patients. Computer-generated simple random sampling technique was used to recruit participants. All patients who started podoconiosis treatment were the source population. Data were entered using Epidata version 3.1 and exported to SPSS version 25 for cleaning and analysis. Variables with 95% CI corresponding AOR were used to identify statistically significant factors for self-care practice. Results: In this study, the self-care practice of podoconiosis patient was 64%. Females [AOR: 0.38 (95% CI: 0.22, 0.65)], 55– 65 years age [AOR: 0.41 (95% CI: 0.22, 0.74)], above 65 years age [AOR: 0.22 (95% CI: 0.11, 0.450)], 4– 6 km distance from water source [AOR: 0.06 (95% CI: 0.03, 0.12)], above 6 km distance from water source [AOR: 0.03 (95% CI: 0.01, 0.09)], educational level [AOR: 0.05 (95% CI: 0.01, 0.40)], marital status [AOR: 5.40 (95% CI: 2.30, 12.90)], and distance from health institution [AOR: 0.35 (95% CI: 0.23, 0.54)] were statistically identified associated factors for self-care practice of podoconiosis patient. Conclusion: In this study, the self-care practice of podoconiosis patients was not well practiced. Socio-demographic factors are identified as associated factors for self-care practice. Strengthening health education and behavioral changes are required to improve self-care practice. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Background: The US Institute of Medicine's "quality chasm" report defined patient-centered care as care that is respectful of and responsive to individual patient preferences, needs, and values, and ensuring that patient values guide all clinical decisions. Services that lack patient-centered care lead to unimproved health status, decreased patient and family satisfaction, and poor patient outcomes. Therefore, this study aimed to assess patient-centered care and associated factors among admitted patients in South Wollo public hospitals in northeast Ethiopia. Methods: This was a facility-based quantitative cross-sectional study design supplemented with qualitative analysis conducted from February 10 to March 10, 2020 across South Wollo public hospitals. A total of 618 admitted patients were selected using multistage systematic random sampling and interviewed using a structured questionnaire. Five health professionals were selected for in-depth interviews. Binary logistic regression analysis was carried out to identify associated variables, and potential confounders were controlled using a multivariate logistic regression model, and P< 0.05 was considered significant. Results: Overall, 60.9% (95% CI 57.1%– 64.5%) of patients received patient-centered care. Age 25– 35 years (AOR 0.39, 95% CI 0.32– 0.64) years, rural residence (AOR 2.61, 95% CI 1.62– 4.02), social well-being (AOR 2.34, 95% CI 1.45– 3.78), perceived high quality of care (AOR 3.69, 95% CI 2.07– 6.04), length of stay (AOR 0.13, 95% CI 0.02– 0.79), and routine checkups (AOR 1.92, 95% CI 1.15– 3.13) were variables significantly associated with patient-centered care. Conclusion: This study revealed that among admitted patients, three in five received patient-centered care. Age, residence, social well-being, length of stay, perceived quality of care, and routine checkups were significantly associated with patient-centered care. Therefore, working on provider improvements in providing consultation and facilitation and decreasing length of stay to improve patient-centered care is needed. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]