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Objective: To determine the factors associated with sexual dysfunction in pregnancy., Methods: A cross-sectional facility-based study using quantitative methods was carried out among pregnant women attending antenatal clinic of the Greater Accra Regional Hospital from 14th May to 25th June 2018. Four hundred and twenty-seven married or cohabiting women who were at least eight weeks pregnant and have been living together with their partners for at least four weeks prior to the survey were consecutively recruited. The Female Sexual Function Index (FSFI) tool was used to assess their sexual function. Pearson's Chi Square, Fischer's exact, Mann Whitney and Student's t-tests were used for bivariate analysis where appropriate between sexual dysfunction (dependent variable) and demographic, obstetrics and gynecologic factors (independent variables). Multiple logistic regression was done. Statistical significance was set at p-value of less than 0.05 at bivariate and multivariable analyses., Results: The mean age of the respondents was 30.8 ± 4.8 years. Their mean gestational age was 32.3 ± 7.1 weeks. Marital status and duration of stay in marriage or cohabitation were significantly associated with sexual dysfunction with adjusted odds ratios of 1.88 (p-value < 0.05) and 1.08 (p-value < 0.05) respectively., Conclusion: Cohabiting and increasing length of stay with spouse are significantly associated with sexual dysfunction in pregnancy., Competing Interests: The authors have declared that no competing interests exist., (Copyright: © 2023 Maya et al. This is an open access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License, which permits unrestricted use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original author and source are credited.)

Resource-deprived coastal peri-urban settlements in Southern Ghana are characterized by indiscriminate solid waste disposal and open defecation practices. Persons engaged in waste handling in such communities perform their activities with little or no personal protective equipment. They are thus confronted with the risk of faecal pollution of the hands and other bodily parts. A mixed method approach was used to investigate 280 waste handlers performing different activities to estimate recent faecal pollution of their hands and to observe the utilization of personal protective equipment and sanitation/hygiene facilities during work. The log concentration of E. coli on hands of waste handlers after work (8.60 ± 4.20 CFU/hand, mean ± standard deviation) was significantly higher compared with the E. coli log concentration before work (2.95 ± 1.89 CFU/hand, mean ± standard deviation) (p<0.001). The odds of faecal pollution was significantly higher (aOR 4.2; 95% CI: 1.9-9.1) for workers aged 35 years and above compared with those less than 35 years; and for workers at public toilet facilities (aOR 3.0; 95% CI: 1.0-8.4) compared with those who worked for private waste handling companies. Female workers were, however, 60% less likely (aOR 0.4; 95% CI: 0.2-0.8) to experience faecal pollution of their hands compared with males. The workers had limited access to water and sanitation and hygiene facilities, and about one-fifth (n = 59; 21.1%) did not use personal protective equipment during work. Waste handlers should be provided and instructed in proper use of personal protective equipment, have access to sanitation facilities and adopt improved hygiene behaviour to avoid the risk of faecal pollution and associated disease risk., Competing Interests: The authors declare that they have no competing interests.

Medication adherence is a key health outcome that reflects the health and general well-being of patients with hypertension. Challenges with adherence are common and associated with clinical, behavioural and psychosocial factors. This study sought to provide data on the extent of medication adherence among male patients with hypertension and their biopsychosocial predictors. Patient and clinical characteristics, psychological distress, insomnia and sexual dysfunction were hypothesized to predict outcomes of medication adherence. Utilizing quantitative data from a hospital-based cross-sectional study from 358 male out-patients with hypertension attending a tertiary hospital in Ghana, medication adherence was associated with age, marital status, educational level, income, duration of diagnosis, number of medications taken and sexual dysfunction. These findings support the need for biopsychosocial interventions aiming at promoting adherence while taking these factors into consideration for the benefit of improving the health and general well-being of male patients with hypertension., Competing Interests: The authors have declared that no competing interests exist.