Search

Background: Preventive measures, like staying at home during lockdown, are mandatory during the COVID-19 pandemic. Particularly as a result of staying at home, violence against women is beginning to increase in correlation with these measures. Therefore, the purpose of this study was to assess the prevalence of violence against women of reproductive age during the COVID-19 pandemic in the Arsi Zone., Methods: A community-based cross-sectional study design was employed from February 15 to March 30, 2021. A multistage sampling technique was used to recruit 1458 women aged 15-49 years old. Data entry was performed using Epi info-7 and exported to SPSS version 25 for analysis. A logistic regression analysis was employed to identify factors associated with violence against women at p value <0.05 and AOR values with 95% CI., Results: The prevalence of violence against women during COVID-19 was 51.1% (95% CI 48.5-53.7%). Psychological violence (31.8%) and controlling behavior violence (29.3%) were the leading types of violence followed by economic (20.2%) and sexual violence (15.6%). Respondents who had monthly income of <1000 birr (AOR = 1.72; 95% CI, 1.18, 2.51), 1001-2000 birr (AOR = 2.22; 95% CI, 1.51, 3.27), 2001-3000 birr (AOR = 1.91; 95% CI, 1.26, 2.91), and 3001-4000 birr (AOR = 2.03; 95% CI, 1.31, 3.14), quarreled with their partner's family (AOR = 3.36; 95% CI: 2.14-5.30), witnessed chilhood family violence (AOR = 2.34; 95% CI: 1.81-3.02), and decisions made on the household issue by husband only (AOR = 2.62; 95% CI: 2.01-3.41) or wife only (AOR = 1.99; 95% CI: 1.33-2.98) were significantly associated with violence against women. In addition, we found that participants whose partners cannot read and write (AOR = 2.63; 95% CI: 1.19- 5.81), drink alcohol (AOR = 2.78; 95% CI: 2.10-3.76), chew chat (AOR = 3.27; 95% CI: 2.21-4.85), ever fighting or aggressive with other men (AOR = 2.73; 95% CI: 1.51-4.95), and partners' families taking part in the decision making (AOR = 2.32; 95% CI: 1.49-3.62) were also associated with violence against women., Conclusions: One in every two women was the victim of any form of violence in the study area. Hence, empowering women's economic status and enhancing community-based health education for males on behavioral lifestyle modification were required to prevent violence against women., Competing Interests: We, authors, have no competing interests., (Copyright © 2024 Gebi Agero et al.)

Background: The coronavirus disease 2019 (Covid-19) pandemic is a global public health problem. The Covid-19 pandemic has had a substantial impact on the economy of developing countries, including Ethiopia.This study aimed to determine the hospitalisation costs of Covid-19 and the factors associated with the high cost of hospitalisation in South Central Ethiopia., Methods: A retrospective cost analysis of Covid-19 patients hospitalised between July 2020 and July 2021 at Bokoji Hospital Covid-19 Treatment Centre was conducted using both the micro-costing and top-down approaches from the health system perspective. This analysis used cost data obtained from administrative reports, the financial reports of the treatment centre, procurement invoices and the Covid-19 standard treatment guidelines. The Student's t-test, Mann-Whitney U test or Kruskal-Wallis test was employed to test the difference between sociodemographic and clinical factors when appropriate.To identify the determinants of cost drivers in the study population, a generalised linear model with gamma distribution and log link with a stepwise algorithm were used., Results: A total of 692 Covid-19 patients were included in the costing analysis. In this study, the mean cost of Covid-19-infected patients with no symptoms was US$1,073.86, with mild symptoms US$1,100.74, with moderate symptoms US$1,394.74 and in severe-critically ill condition US$1,708.05.The overall mean cost was US$1,382.50(95% CI: 1,360.60-1,404.40) per treated episode.The highest mean cost was observed for personnel, accounting for 64.0% of the overall cost. Older age, pre-existing diseases, advanced disease severity at admission, admission to the intensive care unit, prolonged stay on treatment and intranasal oxygen support were strongly associated with higher costs., Conclusions: This study found that the clinical management of Covid-19 patients incurred significant expenses to the health system. Factors such as older age, disease severity, presence of comorbidities, use of inhalation oxygen therapy and prolonged hospital stay were associated with higher hospitalisation costs.Therefore, the government should give priority to the elderly and those with comorbidities in the provision of vaccination to reduce the financial burden on health facilities and health systems in terms of resource utilisation., (© 2023. BioMed Central Ltd., part of Springer Nature.)

Background: COVID-19 is a global public health problem causing high mortality worldwide. This study aimed to assess time to death and predictors of mortality among patients hospitalized for COVID-19 in the Arsi zone treatment center., Method: We performed a retrospective observational cohort study using medical records of laboratory-confirmed COVID-19 cases hospitalized at Bokoji Hospital COVID-19 treatment center from 1st July 2020 to 5th March 2021. We extracted data on the patients' sociodemographic and clinical characteristics from medical records of hospitalized patients retrospectively. We carried out Kaplan Meier and Cox regression analysis to estimate survival probability and investigate predictors of COVID-19 death 5% level of significance. The Adjusted Hazard Ratio (aHR) with 95% Confidence Interval (CI) was estimated and interpreted for predictors of time to death in the final cox model., Result: A total of 422 COVID-19 patients treated were analyzed, of these more than one tenth (11.14%) deaths, with a mortality rate of 6.35 cases per 1000 person-days. The majority (87.2%) of deaths occurred within the first 14 days of admission, with a median time-to-death of nine (IQR: 8-12) days. We found patients that age between 31 and 45 years (aHR = 2.55; 95% CI: (1.03, 6.34), older than 46 years (aHR = 2.59 (1.27, 5.30), chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (aHR = 4.60, 95%CI: (2.37, 8.91), Chronic kidney disease (aHR = 5.58, 95%CI: (1.70, 18.37), HIV/AIDS (aHR = 3.66, 95%CI: (1.20, 11.10), admission to the Intensive care unit(aHR = 7.44, 95%CI: (1.82, 30.42), and being on intranasal oxygen care (aHR = 6.27, 95%CI: (2.75, 4.30) were independent risk factors increasing risk of death from COVID-19 disease than their counterparts., Conclusion: The risk of dying due to COVID-19 disease was higher among patients with HIV/AIDS, chronic obstructive pulmonary disease, and chronic kidney diseases. We also found that older people, those admitted to ICU, and patients who received intranasal oxygen care had a higher risk of dying due to COVID-19 disease. Therefore, close monitoring hospitalized patients that are old aged and those with comorbidities after hospitalization is crucial within the first ten days of admission., Competing Interests: The authors have declared that no competing interests exist.

Background: Deaths due to COVID-19 are common among the elderly, especially among individuals with underlying illnesses. The pandemic of the COVID-19 impaired the mental, psychological, and physical well-being of people admitted to hospitals. Furthermore, in underdeveloped countries, scarcity of medical equipment was a challenge to manage cases in public health facilities. Thus, understanding the epidemiology and clinical outcomes of COVID-19 patients who are receiving treatment is critical for developing effective treatments and assessing service quality. Therefore, this study is aimed at assessing the treatment outcomes and associated factors among patients affected by the COVID-19 virus., Method: We used an institutional-based retrospective cross-sectional analysis of 398 patients discharged in South Central, Ethiopia, between June 1, 2020, and July 5, 2021. Data were extracted using the data abstraction format. Data were entered, coded, and analyzed using the STATA 16 software. Bivariate and multivariate logistic regression analysis was used to assess the factors associated with poor treatment outcomes. A 95% confidence interval with adjusted odds ratio (AOR) and p value less than 0.05 were considered statistically significant., Result: In our study, the proportion of poor treatment outcomes was 61 (15.3%). Chronic pulmonary disease (AOR = 5.62; 95% CI: 2.49-12.70), asthma (AOR = 2.8; 95% CI: 1.17-6.67), chronic kidney disease (AOR = 4.81; 95% CI: 1.27-18.22),diabetic mellitus (AOR = 2.27; 95% CI: 1.02-5.09), HIV positive (AOR = 10.44; 95% CI: 3.0-36.35), worsening conditions (AOR = 3.73, 95% CI: 1.17-11.95), and age 55 and above years (AOR = 4.35, 95% CI: 1.30-14.60) were statistically associated with poor treatment outcomes., Conclusion: We found a significant number of patients had favourable treatment. Moreover, aging, having complicated situations at admission, and chronic illnesses such as COPD, CKD, asthma, diabetic mellitus, and HIV/AIDS participants were significantly associated with poor treatment outcomes. Therefore, critical follow-up and management of patients with underlying diseases and worsening health conditions during admission is required., Competing Interests: The authors declare that they have no competing interests., (Copyright © 2022 Abdene Weya Kaso et al.)

Introduction: Coronavirus (Covid-19) is a respiratory disease mostly affecting old aged and those with comorbidities. Due to resource constraints in developing countries, control of Covid-19 was based on preventive measures. However, there is variation in adherence to these precautionary measures from place to place among communities. Therefore, this study assessed the practice of Covid-19 preventive measures and associated factors among residents of Southern, Ethiopia., Methods: A community-based cross-sectional study was employed on residents of Southern, Ethiopia. Interviewer administered questionnaire was used to collect data from households through systematic random sampling methods. Data was entered, coded, and analyzed using STATA version 16. Logistic regression analysis was used to explore the association between outcome variables and predictor variables. Finally, the interpretation of Adjusted Odds ratio (AOR) with 95% Confidence Interval (CI) and p-value was done for statistically significant factors of Covid-19 preventive measures practice., Results: The proportion of residents who had good practice of Covid-19 preventive measures was 31.3% (95% CI: 26.5, 36.1). Out of 364 residents, 264 (72.5%) used facemasks, 218 (59.9%) washed their hands frequently, 167 (45.9%) practiced social distancing, 135 (37.1%) stayed at home, 75 (18.1%) avoided handshaking and 228 (62.6%) used hand sanitizer. Following government directions (AOR = 225; 95% CI: 68.6, 738), good knowledge about Covid-19 (AOR = 3.47; 95% CI: 1.12, 10.73), having access to water supply (AOR = 2.92; 95% CI: 1.05, 8.18), belief towards protectiveness of preventive measure (AOR = 3.53; 95% CI: 1.08, 11.61) and chronic illness (AOR = 5.09; 95% CI: 1.44, 17.96) were significantly associated with practice of Covid-19 preventive measures., Conclusion: In this study, the proportion of residents practicing Covid-19 preventive measures was low. Having comorbidity, following government directions, knowledge about Covid-19 and access to water supply were significantly associated with Covid-19 preventive measures practice. Therefore, government and all concerned stakeholders should increase the accessibility of infrastructure and provide continuous awareness creation campaigns regarding Covid-19 mode of transmission, sign and symptom, and protectiveness of Covid-19 preventive measures. Moreover, dissemination of teaching aids using local languages and close monitoring of community compliance to Covid-19 preventive measures is crucial., Competing Interests: The authors have declared that no competing interests exist.

Background: The pandemic of the novel coronavirus (Covid-19), which is extremely stressful and has an adverse effect on people's health-related quality of life (HRQoL), poses a serious threat to global public health. As a result, this study evaluated the health-related quality of life and associated factors among Covid-19 patients who were discharged from Ethiopian treatment centers. Methods: We conducted a multi-center, cross-sectional study among 493 Covid-19 survivors who had been discharged from treatment centers between 1st January 2020, and 20th October 2021. We collected respondents' data using validated Amharic version EuroQol 5-dimensional-5 levels (EQ-5D-5L) questionnaire along with medical records of the patients. Differences in HRQOL scores between patient subgroups were tested by Mann–Whitney U or Kruskal–Wallis test, and the multivariable betaMix regression was used to investigate factors associated with HRQOL scores. Results: The EQ-5D and VAS median score for Covid-19 survivors was 0.940 (IQR: 0.783– 0.966) and 87 (IQR: 70– 91) respectively. Overall, married individuals, old-aged, individuals who had low educational status, high monthly income, comorbidities, admitted to the Intensive care Unit, received intranasal oxygen care, and prolonged hospitalization had lower utility scores and EQ-VAS scores compared to their counterparts. In multivariate betaMix regression, respondents' health status at admission, old age, chronic obstructive pulmonary disease, asthma, and hospital length of stay were significantly associated with the lower EQ-5D-Index value and EQ-VAS score. Conclusion: We found that Covid-19 infection had a persisting impact on the physical and psychosocial health of Covid-19 survivors. Age, having asthma and chronic obstructive pulmonary disease, having a worsening health state upon admission, and a prolonged hospital length of stay were significantly associated with the lower EQ-5D and EQ-VAS score. Therefore, the cost-effective psychological treatment such as cognitive behaviour therapy should be encouraged after hospitalization to improve the post-Covid-19 depression and fatigue. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]