Search

BackgroundDiaper dermatitis (DD, sometimes known as diaper rash or napkin dermatitis is one of the most prevalent skin infections that occur in the area covered by the diaper. Although diaper dermatitis can be seen in any patient wearing diapers, it is reported to be more common in infants aged 9-12 months. Approximately, 70% of infants and young children suffer from diaper dermatitis at some point during their diaper wearing years and up to 25% of children seek healthcare due to this case.Methods and analysis: methods and analysisA comprehensive literature search will be gathered from electronic databases such as PubMed, Embase, Hinari, Cochrane Library, African Journals Online (AJOL), and Google Scholar. The protocol followed the Preferred Reporting Items for Systematic Reviews and Meta-analyses for Protocol (PRISMA-P) guideline. All studies conducted in low- and middle-income countries (LMICs) will be included regardless of their study design as long as these studies report the magnitude of the problem under study. Joanna Briggs Institute's (JBI) appraisal checklist will be used to assess the quality of individual studies. Heterogeneity will be checked using Cochrane Q test statistics and I2 test statistics, and a random-effects model will be employed to estimate the pooled prevalence of DD and its associated factors.Ethics and dissemination of researchEthics committee approval or written informed consent will not be required to conduct this review, and meta-analysis for the review will be entirely based on published data. The result of this study will be submitted to a peer-reviewed journal, and it will also be presented at relevant research conferences.ResultsThe present study will estimate the pooled prevalence of diaper dermatitis and their associated factors in low- and middle-income countries.Trial registrationPROSPERO registration number: CRD42024578550.

Abstract Background Compliance with the iron folic acid supplementation is low and not at the required level to prevent anaemia during pregnancy in many countries, including Ethiopia, even though an iron-folic acid supplementation program is being implemented. The aims of this study were to determine the effect of community-based nutritional education on knowledge, attitude, and compliance to IFA supplementation in Ilu Aba Bor zone of southwest Ethiopia. Method A pretest–posttest quasi-experimental study design consisting of intervention and control group was conducted among pregnant women. The total sample size of 472, therefore, 236 pregnant women for each interventional and control group from 16 kebeles were randomly selected in two districts. A multi-stage sampling technique was used to select the study participants. Then, individual study units were selected using a simple random sampling technique and followed until the end of the study period. Effect of community-based nutritional education on knowledge, attitude, and compliance to IFA supplementation among pregnant women in rural areas were measured. Results A total of 472 pregnant women participated in the study during the baseline and 437 (92.6%) were in the study until the end. The majority (49.2%) of respondents were 21–25 years of age, with a mean age of 23.4 (SD = 3.7) years. Community-based nutrition has resulted in a statistically significant increase in levels of maternal knowledge of IFAS by 15.2% in the intervention group compared to 5.1% in the control group. Similarly, the intervention group had odds of developing a positive attitude toward IFA 5.6 (4.01, 7.85) times higher than the control group. Moreover, in this study, the odds of compliance towards IFA supplementation were 3.9 (2.67, 5.57) times higher among those who received nutrition education than those women who did not. Conclusion This study revealed that community-based nutritional education can result in a significant change in knowledge, attitude, and compliance towards IFA supplementation and supports the literature suggesting the importance of the intervention to overcome the problem of poor compliance and its associated consequences.

Objectives The aim of this study was to determine predictors of adverse perinatal outcome among women who gave birth at Medical Center of Southwest Ethiopia.Setting Institutional based retrospective cohort study was conducted among women who gave birth at Medical Center of Southwest Ethiopia.Participants Medical record of 777 women was included in the study by using maternity HMIS logbook as entry point. Simple random sampling technique without replacement was employed to select individual medical record using computer generated random numbers.Primary outcome measured Predictors of adverse perinatal outcome were examined using modified Poisson regression with a robust SE.Results Majority, 74.1% of the participants were in the age group of 21–34 years and the median age was 26 (IQR=7) years. More than one-third, 35.9% of the mothers were primigravida and only 21.2% of them had above four antenatal cares (ANC) visit. The overall incidence of adverse perinatal outcome was 31.5% (95% CI: 28.3 to 34.9). Maternal age less than 20 years (adjusted risk ratio, aRR=1.3; 95% CI: 1.01 to 1.5), rural residence (aRR=1.27; 95% CI: 1.04 to 1.59), presence of antepartum haemorrhage in current pregnancy (aRR=1.7; 95% CI: 1.38 to 2.07), maternal anaemia (aRR=1.25; 95% CI: 1.03 to 1.53), lack of ANC visit (aRR=2.29; 95% CI: 1.35 to 3.90), induced labour (aRR=1.77; 95% CI: 1.43 to 2.19) and being positive for venereal disease research laboratory (VDRL) test in current pregnancy (aRR=2.0; 95% CI: 1.16 to 3.38) were found to be significantly associated with adverse perinatal outcome.Conclusion The incidence of adverse perinatal outcome in the study area is high and maternal age less than 20, rural residency, maternal anaemia, antepartum haemorrhage in the current pregnancy, inadequate ANC visit, induction of labour and being positive for VDRL test were found to predict occurrence of adverse perinatal outcome. Majority of these problems can be managed by providing quality antenatal, intrapartum and post-natal care.

BackgroundAll women require access to high-quality care during pregnancy, labor, and after childbirth. The occurrence of delay at any stage is one of the major causes of maternal mortality. There is, however, a scarcity of data on women's access to maternal health services during the COVID-19 pandemic. Therefore, the goal of this study was to assess the magnitude of delays in maternal health service utilization and its associated factors among pregnant women in the Ilubabor zone during the COVID-19 pandemic.MethodsA facility-based cross-sectional study was conducted among 402 pregnant women selected by systematic random sampling. Data were analyzed using IBM SPSS Statistics version 26. Descriptive and summary statistics were used to describe the study population. Bivariate and multivariable logistic regression analyses were performed to identify factors associated with the outcome variables. Adjusted odds ratio with respective 95% CI was used to report significant covariates.ResultsA total of 402 pregnant women participated in this study. The median age of the respondents was 25 years (IQR = 8). On average, a woman stays 1.76 hours (SD = 1.2) to make a decision to seek care. The prevalence of first, second and third delay were 51%, 48%, and 33.3%, respectively. Being unmarried [AOR (95% CI)], [0.145 (0.046-0.452)], being unemployed [AOR (95% CI)], [4.824 (1.685-13.814)], age [AOR (95% CI)], [0.227 (0.089-0.0579)], fear of COVID-19 [AOR (95% CI)], [1.112 (1.036-1.193)], urban residence [AOR (95% CI)], [0.517 (0.295-0.909)], and lack of birth preparedness [AOR (95% CI)], [6.526 (1.954-21.789)] were significantly associated with first delay. Being unmarried [AOR (95% CI)], [5.984 (2.930-12.223)], being unemployed [AOR (95% CI)], [26.978 (3.477-209.308)], and age [AOR (95% CI)], [0.438 (0.226-0.848)] were significantly associated with second delay. Having lengthy admission [AOR (95% CI)], [7.5 (4.053-13.878)] and non-spontaneous vaginal delivery [AOR (95% CI)], [1.471 (1.018-1.999)] were significantly associated with third delay.ConclusionThis study identified a significant proportion of mothers experiencing delays, although there were no data to suggest exacerbated delays in utilizing maternal health services due to fear of the COVID-19 pandemic. The proportion of maternal delay varies with different factors. Improving the decision-making capacity of women is, therefore, essential.

BackgroundThe main target of tuberculosis control and prevention is to detect incident cases as quickly as possible and also to prevent the occurrence of disease. It is also the responsibility of the health facility to screen the contacts, identifying children for prophylactic therapy. However, the target is difficult to meet due to issues within health facilities that cause health system diagnostic delays. Despite this, there is no information explored why health system diagnostic delays among tuberculosis patients.MethodA qualitative study was conducted by using different data collection methods and sources. Seventeen DOT providers, five laboratory professionals, six program managers, and seven Tuberculosis patients were interviewed. In addition, 22 governmental health facilities were observed for the availability of resources. Data obtained from the in-depth interviews was transcribed, coded, categorized, and thematized manually.ResultHealth system Diagnosis delays reasons were related with sample collection procedures, poor competency of health professionals, in addition to absences or scarcity of health professionals, medical products, and basic infrastructure. We found 18 health facilities without skilled personnel in the OPD, 7 health facilities with a broken microscope, and almost all health facilities without a separate room for sputum examination. Furthermore, 12 (54.5%) and 14 (63.6%) health facilities lacked access to water and electric power, respectively.ConclusionMany reasons for TB diagnosis delays have been identified in the study area. Poor competence of health workers and scarcity of resources were identified. Depending on the finding, we suggest strengthening the health workers' training. Concrete strategies need to be designed to retain professionals. Training on human resource planning and budget preparation is needed for front-line managers. Managers have to work on the maintenance of diagnostic tools and facilitate transportation. The rural health facilities need to use another alternative power source.

Musca sorbens (Diptera: Muscidae) flies are thought to be vectors of the blinding eye disease trachoma, carrying the bacterium Chlamydia trachomatis (Ct) between the eyes of individuals. While their role as vectors has been convincingly demonstrated via randomised controlled trials in The Gambia, studies of fly-borne trachoma transmission remain scant and as such our understanding of their ability to transmit Ct remains poor. We examined fly-eye contact and caught eye-seeking flies from 494 individuals (79% aged ≤9 years) in Oromia, Ethiopia. Ct-carrying flies (harbouring Ct DNA) were found to cluster spatially in and nearby to households in which at least one resident had Ct infection. Fly-eye contact was positively associated with the presence of trachoma (disease), lower human body weight and increased human body temperature. Studies of laboratory-reared M. sorbens indicated that Ct is found both externally and internally following feeds to Ct culture, with scanning electron microscopy revealing how Ct bodies can cling to fly hairs (setae). Testing for Ct on field-caught M. sorbens found fly 'bodies' (thorax, wings and abdomen) to consistently test positive for Ct while legs and heads were infrequently Ct-positive. These studies strongly support the role of M. sorbens as vectors of trachoma and highlight the need for improved understanding of fly-borne trachoma transmission dynamics and vector competence. Author summary: Trachoma is a blinding eye disease caused by an infection of the eye by the bacterium Chlamydia trachomatis (Ct). Trachoma is responsible for vision impairment or blindness in 1.8 million people and is the leading infectious cause of blindness worldwide. The presence of flies around the eyes of young children is a common feature of life in trachoma endemic communities worldwide. This fly is most often Musca sorbens, an understudied species thought to transmit Ct. In order to understand more about Musca sorbens flies and their relationship with Ct, the researchers studied 247 households in the Oromia region of Ethiopia, where there is known to be a lot of trachoma. The authors found evidence of Ct on flies and that flies in households containing children with Ct infection were much more likely themselves to be carrying Ct, adding to evidence that M. sorbens flies contribute to transmission of the bacterium. They also found that children who weigh less and currently have trachoma were more likely to have flies land on their face. Should further studies clearly elucidate a role for M. sorbens as vectors of trachoma, controlling fly populations or preventing fly-eye contact may become an important aspect of trachoma disease control. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

BackgroundHypertensive disorders of pregnancy (HDP) increases adverse perinatal outcomes in women with the disorder. About 16% of all still births and 10% of early neonatal deaths are accounted by HDP. In Ethiopia, HDP complicates about 6% of all pregnancies. Hence, the objective of this study was to determine the risk of adverse perinatal outcomes among women with HDP in Jimma Medical Center, southwest Ethiopia.MethodsA retrospective cohort study was conducted on a total of 777 women who gave birth from June 2017 to March 2020 at Jimma Medical Center, southwest Ethiopia. Women with HDP and normotensive women who gave birth at or after 28 weeks of gestation were enrolled as exposed and unexposed respectively. Simple random sampling technique was used to select study participants. Data were reviewed using structured data collection performa that was prepared after reviewing relevant literatures. Data were entered to Epi-Data then exported to STATA version 13 for analysis. The adverse perinatal outcomes risk were examined using log binomial and modified Poisson regression model with robust standard errors.ResultsIn this study, the overall incidence of adverse perinatal outcome was higher among women with hypertensive disorders of pregnancy (HDP) than normotensive women (64.1% versus 32.8%). After adjusting for confounders, women with HDP were at higher risk of babies with low birth weight (adjusted RR = 2.88 (2.2, 3.75)), preterm birth(aRR = 2.31(1.7, 3.14)), fifth minute low Apgar score (aRR = 2.6(1.53, 4.42)), admission to neonatal intensive care unit (aRR = 1.77(1.32, 2.37), stillbirth (aRR = 2.02(1.11, 3.01)), and perinatal mortality (aRR = 3.88(1.97, 7.66)) than normotensive women.ConclusionWomen with hypertensive disorder of pregnancy were at higher risk of adverse perinatal outcomes than normotensive women who gave birth at Jimma Medical Center, southwest Ethiopia. Therefore, health care providers should strengthen prevention, early diagnosis and prompt management of HDP in order to reduce adverse perinatal outcomes.