Family APGAR and treatment outcomes among HIV patients at two ART Centers in Kumasi, Ghana

objectives: This study aimed to examine the association between Family Adaptability, Partnership, Growth, Affection and Resolve (Family APGAR) and HIV treatment outcomes. Design: A cross-sectional study using the Family APGAR questionnaire Setting: The study was conducted in Kumasi, Ghana, at the Komfo Anokye Teaching Hospital and the Kwame Nkrumah University of Science and Technology Hospital Participants: Consenting HIV-positive patients who had been on treatment for at least 12 months were recruited. Main outcome measures: The Family APGAR questionnaire was administered, and relevant data were extracted from hospital records and analysed using STATA® software. The relationship between Family APGAR and treatment outcomes was determined using Chi-squared tests or Fisher's exact test. Results: Approximately 70.1% of 304 participants were females with a mean age of 41.8 years (±9.9). At treatment initiation, 47.4% of the patients presented at World Health Organisation (WHO) clinical stages I and II and had a CD4 count ≥ 200 cells/mm3 . Females were less likely (Odds Ratio= 0.52; 95% CI=0.31 ­ 0.90, p = 0.018) to report late for treatment compared with the males. After 12 months of treatment, approximately 70% recorded undetectable viral load. Patients with functional families constituted 70.4%, which had a statistically significant relationship with viral load (p = 0.041). Conclusion: HIV care providers should incorporate family functionality evaluation into clinical practice and provide early essential support to enhance treatment outcomes

Growth patterns of preterm infants: a prospective study in an indigenous African population

Background: Optimal growth of preterm infants reflects their overall health status; however, indigenous growth charts are rarely available to monitor them adequately in infancy. Objectives: The aim of this study was to describe growth patterns of preterm infants and to generate percentile charts as well as relevant predictive equations for expected weight­for­age in their various birth weight categories.Materials and Methods: This was a prospective, analytic study. Anthropometric measurements of eligible consecutive preterm babies were monitored biweekly/monthly in infancy. Temporal changes in body weights and occipitofrontal circumferences (OFCs)were presented graphically. The Pearson's correlation coefficient was done toderivepredictiveequations. LMS chartmaker light version 2.54 (Medical Research Council, UK) generated percentile charts. P <0.05 was considered statistically significant.Results:A total of 154 preterm infants were recruited during the study period, with a male­to­female ratio of 1:1.5. Their mean gestational age (GA) was 31.3 ± 2.4 weeks, and mean birth weight was 1510.8 ± 347.5 g. Average daily weight gains were 9.4, 17.4, and 20.0 for extremely low birth weight (ELBW), very LBW (VLBW), and LBW, respectively, in the 1st month (F = 1.733, P = 0.183). The peak weight gain period occurred at the 4th month for ELBW (28.3 g/day), 5th month for VLBW (38.3 g/day), and 7th month for LBW (38.3 g/day).There was a strong positive correlation of their body weight with their postnatal age (y = 505.6x + 1511.5; R2 = 0.92) as well as OFC with age (y = 1.33x + 29.94; R2 = 0.94). Growth charts for weights and OFCs were generated showing 5th, 50th, and 95th percentiles. Conclusion: The preterm infants gained weight with increasing postnatal age following an initial weight loss in the early neonatal period. Their relative growth velocities were similar in all birth weight categories

Growth of Infants Born To HIV-Positive Mothers Fed a Whey-Adapted Acidified Starter Formula with Prebiotics and Nucleotides

Objectives: The objectives of this study were to evaluate whether infants born to known HIV-positive mothers; but who were not themselves infected with HIV and who were fed a chemically acidified starter formula with prebiotics with or without nucleotides during their first six months; displayed growth rates equal to uninfected infants fed a chemically acidified starter formula without prebiotics or nucleotides. Design: The design was a multi-centre; double-blinded randomised controlled trial. Setting: The study was carried out in four academic hospitals; three in Johannesburg and one in Cape Town; South Africa. Subjects and intervention: The subjects were newborn infants born to consenting HIV-positive women who had previously decided not to breast feed. The infants were randomised to receive one of three milk formulas. The intervention comprised chemically acidified formula without prebiotics or nucleotides; with prebiotics only; or with prebiotics and nucleotides. Outcome measures: The outcome measures were the growth parameters through the first six months of life. Results: Of the 150 randomised infants; 50 did not complete the study and 16 (12.8of those tested) were infected with HIV; leaving 84 infants available for analysis. All three formulas were tolerated well; with no differences in growth parameters seen with the addition of prebiotics and nucleotides. The growth rates of the study infants up to the age of six months were very good; showing an increase in Z-scores from negative values at the time of enrolment in the first week after birth to around zero for length and 0.5 for weight.Conclusions: The three chemically acidified formulas were tolerated well and resulted in good growth over the first six months of life. No benefits were seen with the addition of prebiotics or nucleotides. The growth rates were similar to those found in previous studies of ours on biologically acidified formulas. The chemical acidification of infant formulas appears to be a realistic alternative to biological acidification should an acidified formula be required

Growth of Infants Born To HIV-Positive Mothers Fed a Whey-Adapted Acidified Starter Formula with Prebiotics and Nucleotides

Objectives: The objectives of this study were to evaluate whether infants born to known HIV-positive mothers; but who were not themselves infected with HIV and who were fed a chemically acidified starter formula with prebiotics with or without nucleotides during their first six months; displayed growth rates equal to uninfected infants fed a chemically acidified starter formula without prebiotics or nucleotides. Design: The design was a multi-centre; double-blinded randomised controlled trial. Setting: The study was carried out in four academic hospitals; three in Johannesburg and one in Cape Town; South Africa. Subjects and intervention: The subjects were newborn infants born to consenting HIV-positive women who had previously decided not to breast feed. The infants were randomised to receive one of three milk formulas. The intervention comprised chemically acidified formula without prebiotics or nucleotides; with prebiotics only; or with prebiotics and nucleotides. Outcome measures: The outcome measures were the growth parameters through the first six months of life. Results: Of the 150 randomised infants; 50 did not complete the study and 16 (12.8of those tested) were infected with HIV; leaving 84 infants available for analysis. All three formulas were tolerated well; with no differences in growth parameters seen with the addition of prebiotics and nucleotides. The growth rates of the study infants up to the age of six months were very good; showing an increase in Z-scores from negative values at the time of enrolment in the first week after birth to around zero for length and 0.5 for weight.Conclusions: The three chemically acidified formulas were tolerated well and resulted in good growth over the first six months of life. No benefits were seen with the addition of prebiotics or nucleotides. The growth rates were similar to those found in previous studies of ours on biologically acidified formulas. The chemical acidification of infant formulas appears to be a realistic alternative to biological acidification should an acidified formula be required

Growth of Infants Born To HIV-Infected Women; When Fed a Biologically Acidified Starter Formula With and Without Probiotics

"Objectives: To compare the growth of HIV-exposed uninfected infants fed a biologically acidified milk formula with or without probiotics (Bifidobacterium lactis) during the first six months of life; with control infants fed a standard starter formula.Design: Multi-centre; double-blinded randomised controlled trial.Setting: Infants born to HIV-infected women delivering at one of three academic hospitals in Johannesburg; South Africa.Subjects: Consenting HIV-positive women; who had previously decided not to breast-feed; were randomised to receive one of three milk formulas for their newborn infants.Outcome measures: Comparisons of growth parameters through the first four months of life were made between infants fed the acidified formula without probiotics and those fed the control formula (""acidification effect""); and between infants fed the acidified formulas with and without added probiotics (""probiotic effect"").Results: Of 131 randomised infants; 33 (25) did not complete the study and 13 (10) were HIV infected; leaving 85 infants available for analysis. Infants receiving the acidified formula with probiotics had more rapid head growth (p=0.04) and showed a trend towards more rapid weight gain (p=0.06) over the first four months of life than the infants receiving the acidified formula without probiotics.No other significant differences between the feeding groups were demonstrated.Conclusions: Infants in all study groups grew well; with increased head growth and a trend towards increased weight gain for those receiving probiotics.There were no differences in morbidity between the three study groups and no evidence of adverse effects of the study formulas."

Changes in Testes Lipid Profile in Rats Fed on Thermally-Oxidized Soya bean Oil-Based Diets

The effect of thermally-oxidized soyabean oil-based diets on the lipid profile of the testes of rats was studied. For 35 days; two groups of male weanling rats were fed a basal diet containing unoxidised and oxidized soyabean oil. Rats fed the thermally oxidized soyabean oil diets displayed typical signs of essential fatty acids (EFA) deficiency and had their testes weights reduced to about 81 of fats fed unoxidised soyabean oil diets. There was a significant decrease (p0.05) in phosphatidylcholine and diphosphatidylglycerol content and increase in cholesterol (p0.005) content of the testes of rats fed oxidized soyabean oil-based diet compared to those fed unoxidised oil diets

Effects of dietary protein quality and quantity on albino rat tissue serum protein ; erythrote fragility and bone mineral content

The study was to ascertain the effect of quality and quantity of dietary protein on body growth; organ cellular and cytoplasmic size; serum protein concentration and molecular weights; erythrocyte fragility and bone mineralisation. Diets containing 20; 17 and 15protein were fed to Sprague Dawley Albino rats weighing about 90g for 21 days. The 20protein diet was a commercial diet better in nutrient composition and quality than the diet containing 17 and 15protein formulated in our laboratory. At the end of 21 days; kidney; testes; brain; pancreas; spleen and long bones ere taken for analysis. Results showed that the diet containing 20protein supported higher body weight; liver and testes cell size (Protein/DNA and weight/DNA ratios) and cytoplasmic size (RNA/DNA ratio). The pancreas cell size; heart; brain; pancreas and spleen cytoplasmic size were not changed by dietary protein level. Plasma protein concentration and the molecular weights; percent bone cash and percent calcium in it were the same at the three levels of dietary protein. TCA soluble plasma amino acid concentration was higher at 20dietary protein. Erythrocyte fragility was higher but erythrocyte ghost protein was lower at dietary protein below 20

Effects of Dietary Protein Quality and Quantity on Albino Rat Tissue Serum Protein; Erythrocyte Fragility and Bone Mineral Content

The study was to ascertain the effect of quality and quantity of dietary protein on body growth; organ cellular and cytoplasmic size; serum protein concentration and molecular weights; erythrocyte fragility and bone mineralisation. Diets containing 20; 17 and 15protein were fed to Sprague Dawley Albino rats weighing about 90g for 21 days. The 20protein diet was a commercial diet better in nutrient composition and quality than the diet containing 17 and 15protein formulated in our laboratory. At the end of 21 days; kidney; testes; brain; pancreas; spleen and long bones ere taken for analysis. Results showed that the diet containing 20protein supported higher body weight; liver and testes cell size (Protein/DNA and weight/DNA ratios) and cytoplasmic size (RNA/DNA ratio). The pancreas cell size; heart; brain; pancreas and spleen cytoplasmic size were not changed by dietary protein level. Plasma protein concentration and the molecular weights; percent bone cash and percent calcium in it were the same at the three levels of dietary protein. TCA soluble plasma amino acid concentration was higher at 20 dietary protein. Erythrocyte fragility was higher but erythrocyte ghost protein was lower at dietary protein below 20

Crescimento e condicao fisica como criterio de saude : estudo em criancas e jovens de Maputo : parte I : antropometria e composicao corporal

Realizamos um estudo transversal em 593 estudantes de ambos os sexos da cidade de Maputo (idade= 8 aos 15 anos) com os objectivos de (1) avaliar os indicadores de crescimento e da capacidade funcional; tidos como associados a saude; nesta populacao; (2) testar a validade dos conceitos e criterios internacionais neste dominio e (3) avaliar a inflencia da condicao socio-economica nestas variaveis. O presente trabalho apresenta a parte referente ao estudo antropometrico e da composicao corporal. Foi mensurada a altura; o peso; o estagio de maturacao e calculadas as fraccoes da massa corporal atraves das medidas de 7 pregas de adiposidade subcutanea. Os resultados foram comparados a normas internacionais; a outros estudos e entre os elementos da amostra de acordo com a origem socio-economica. A analise sugere um retardamento de crescimento provocado provavelmente por um atraso na maturacao; sendo mais evidente nas zonas mais desfavorecidas da cidade. Contudo; pelos criterios antropometricos; nao se envidenciam sinais de manultricao aguda; o que conduz a hipotese de um criterio selectivo de adesao a escola; dada a conhecida situacao do pais. e tambem sugerido a desadaptacao dos padroes de referencia internacionais para a realidade desta populacao; propondo-se assim a elaboracao de normas nacionais; por um lado; e o estudo da relevancia para o bem estar das criancas e jovens; por outro

Surveillance nutritionnelle de l'enfant de 0 a 5 ans a travers la fiche de croissance en vigueur au Togo

Depuis 1990; la Division de la Sante Familiale (DSF) fait la promotion d'une nouvelle fiche de croissance deja introduite dans pratiquement tous les centres de Protection Maternelle et Infantile (PMI) de la peripherie. Depuis 1992; cette surveillance nutritionnelle des enfants est doublee d'une intense campagne de promotion de l'allaitement maternel par l'introduction des notions d'allaitement maternel exclusif et d'Initiative Hopitaux Amis des Bebes. Ces deux chevaux de bataille de la surveillance nutritionnelle des enfants de 0 a 5 ans; sont; grace a l'appui technique et financier de l'UNICEF et de l'OMS; deja en train d'entrer dans les habitudes; dans les formations sanitaires de la peripherie et dans la communaute. Ils sont peu connus du secteur prive et le systeme de reference entre la peripherie et le niveau central n'est pas clairement defini. L'occasion des journees de pediatrie de 1995 consacrees a la nutrition; a permis de discuter avec les pediatres de ces aspects fondamentaux de la surveillance nutritionnelle des enfants au Togo afin que leurs avis entrent en compte dans les orientations futures du programme de Sante Maternelle et Infantile

Report on a nutrition survey of high income urban children in Malawi

During November 1990 to January 1991 a survey of the nutritional status of high income urban children in a sample of 18 pre-schools in Blantyre; Zomba; and Lilongwe was carried out. The results confirm that high income Malawian children have a similar growth pattern to the NCHS/WHO International Child Growth reference population (WHO 1984) which is based on a sample of healthy North American children. The consistently shorther stature of rural Malawian children is not a result of ethnic differences but reflect socio-economic and environmental factors which affect nutritional status

Shamva child survival project: baseline survey results

The Child Survival Project was carried out in Shamva; a district of Mashonaland Central Province at the initiation of the Zimbabwe World Vision and the project lasted for three years. One of the basic concepts in enhancing Child Survival is the prevention of childhood immunisable diseases. The survey revealed that more than 80 of infants (children under 1 year) had completed the primary course of immunisation on average; although disparities occur among the different socio-economic groupings. ANC/PNC/FP were next components of Child Survival evaluated in detail. 32 of mothers are still delivering at home assisted in the majority of cases by Traditional Midwives (TMs). 16.6 of women using Family Planning methods experience some side effects out of the 95 of respondents who said they use some form of family planning method