Factors that Determine Utilisation of Mordern Contraceptives in East; Central and Southern Africa

A cross-sectional study to determine modern contraceptives utilization among women aged between 15 and 19 years was performed between September and October; 1991 in 5 countries of East Central and Southern Africa. The study involved both rural and urban area of Kenya; Uganda; Mauritius; Swaziland and Zambia. A total of 4513 women were interviewed of whom 2418 (53.6) were from the urban areas while 2096 (46.4were from the rural areas. The percentage distribution of contraceptive users was 33.2in urban and 48.9in rural areas. The proportion of users of traditional/natural contraception was 38.5. Overall the prevalence of contraceptive use was 29.5. Thus the natural/traditional methods were most popular in the region. The user rate of modern contraceptive methods ranged from 6.8for Zambia to 60for Mauritius. The study revealed that contraceptive prevalence rates were higher among women in urban areas (60) than in rural areas (40). The main factors influencing contraceptive use in order of importance included distance from residence to clinics; level of education attained; parity; marital status; approval by husbands/boyfriends and knowledge of family planning methods. Contraceptive use was highest in the age group of 20 to 34 years while it was lowest among young women aged 15-19 years

Relationship between nurses opinion on nursing care for HIV infected/AIDS patients and socio-economic factors in Nyeri District; Kenya

The main objective of the study was to relate the attitudes of nursing staff towards HIV positive and AIDS patients to the nurses' age; sex; religious affiliation and marital status. 211 nurses were randomly selected for the study form all health centres and the only District hospital in Nyeri; Kenya. Information was collected using a self-administered questionnaire; with the help and/or supervision of the investigators. There was statistically significant relationship between marital status of the nurses and the need to keep the HIV status of the patient confidential. 69 of the nurses said that it was not necessary to observe confidentiality for a number of reasons. Out of the 31 of those who said taht confidentiality was necessary; 83 were married. Nurses' expressed fear of contracting AIDS through casual contact did not have a significant relationship with christian denomination to which they were affiliated. 32 of the nurses said that one could get AIDS through casual contact. Other parameters are presented and discussed in this paper. It is evident that nurses need to be more enlightened on AIDS facts in order to improve on the quality of nursing care for HIV/AIDS patients