Self-care practice and associated factors among epileptic patients: a cross-sectional study, Ethiopia.

Introduction: epilepsy results in multidimensional and long term effect on the patients and society. Self-care practice is critical for epileptic patient. So far, the issue of self-care practice still considered as the most important cause of poorly controlled epilepsy. Yet comprehensive epilepsy self-care practice is not recognized, which is not addressed with medical treatment alone has not been studied particular in Ethiopia. The objective was to assess self-care practice and associated factors among epileptic patients on follow up at Jimma Town public hospitals, 2020. Methods: institution based cross-sectional study was conducted from April 08 - May 20/2020. Data was collected using structured interviewer administered questionnaire and data extraction checklist. Simple random sampling technique was used to select a total of 297 study participants. Data was entered to EPI data version 3.5.3 and exported to SPSS version 23.0 for analysis. Variables with p-value < 0.25 on bivariate analysis were candidated for multivariate analyses. Factors with p value < 0.05 on multivariate analyses were considered as statistically significant. Results: a total of 297 study participants were included in the study giving a response rate of 99.0%. Of study participants 146(49.2%) of them were had good self-care practice. Residence (AOR= 1.712, 95%CI: 1.034-2.836, P- 0.037), Seizure frequency (AOR = 0.288, 95% CI: 0.091-0.907, P-0.034), felt stigma (AOR=0.565, 95%CI: 0.342-0.935, P- 0.026) and medication adherence (AOR=0.391, 95%CI: 0.240-0.638, P-0.000) were significantly associated with self-management practice. Conclusion: this study found that half of the study participants were had poor self-care practice. Residence, felt stigma, increased seizure frequency and not adherence to medication were factors contributed for poor self-care practice. Therefore, intervention strategies focused on contributing factor for poor self-care practice should be considered.

Assessment of prevalence and associated factors of intestinal parasite infections among school children at Amber Primary School, Northwest Ethiopia.

Objective: This study is aimed to assess the prevalence and associated factors of intestinal parasitic infections among school children at Amber Primary School, Northwest Ethiopia. Methods: A school-based cross-sectional study was conducted at Amber Primary School from December 2019 to January 2020. Semi-structured questionnaire was used to collect socio-demographic data and clinical characteristics. Direct wet mount technique was applied for detection and identification of intestinal parasites. Result: A total of 384 participants were included in this study of which 50.3% were males and 65.4% were in the age group 9-12 years. The prevalence of at least one intestinal parasite was 26.8% (n = 103), of which 13.6% (n = 14) were mixed infections. Hymenolepis nana was the most prevalent intestinal parasite (5.2%) followed by Entamoeba histolytica/dispar (4.9%) and hookworm (4.7%). Male children (adjusted odds ratio = 0.624; 95% confidence interval: 0.392-0.993) and those whose mother completed elementary school (adjusted odds ratio = 2.171; 95% confidence interval: 1.012-4.658) were significantly associated with intestinal parasite infections (p < 0.05). Conclusion: Intestinal parasitic infections remained an important health problem among school children in the study area. Appropriate intervention measures should be taken to reduce the burden and related morbidities.

Survival Status and Predictors of Mortality Among Preterm Neonates Admitted to Mizan Tepi University Teaching Hospital, South West Ethiopia.

OBJECTIVE: The main objective of this study was to assess survival status and predictors of mortality among preterm neonates admitted to Mizan Tepi University Teaching Hospital. MATERIALS AND METHODS: A retrospective cohort study was conducted on 568 randomly selected neonates. All preterm neonates admitted in NICU from May 9, 2016 to December 30, 2019 were the source population. Data were extracted from medical chart and entered to EpiData version 4.4.2.1 and analyzed by STATA version 14. Descriptive statistics, bivariate and multivariable analyses were done in a Cox regression model. Variables with P-value of <0.05 were considered statistically significant in predicting the preterm mortality. RESULTS: Out of 568 preterm neonates, 199 (35%) died with an incidence rate of 62.15 (54.09-71.41) deaths per 1000 person-day-observations with median survival time of 15 days. Vaginal mode of delivery (adjusted hazard ratio, AHR: 1.78, 95%CI: 1.05-3.08), non-cephalic presentation (AHR:1.8, 95%CI: 1.04-3.06), born from mothers with no ANC follow-up (AHR: 1.9, 95%CI: 1.29-3.01), fifth minute APGAR score <7 (AHR: 1.87, 95%CI: 1.31-2.68), RDS (AHR: 1.74, 95%CI: 1.28-2.36), did not receive KMC (AHR: 1.45, (95%CI: 1.06-1.98), did not cry immediately after birth (AHR: 2.81, 95%CI: 2.03-3.93)), VLBW (AHR: 2.67, 95%CI: 1.29-5.53), low birth weight (AHR: 2.24, 95%CI: 1.15-4.39), and hypothermia (AHR: 1.36, 95%CI: 1-1.84) were significantly associated with preterm mortality. CONCLUSION: Preterm neonatal mortality was high and the predictors were almost all preventable and treatable. Therefore, emphasis should be given toward prevention and early anticipation, and management of these predictors.

Knowledge towards Prevention and Early Detection of Chronic Kidney Disease and Associated Factors among Hypertensive Patients at a Chronic Illness Clinic of Jimma Town Public Hospitals.

BACKGROUND: Morbidity and mortality due to chronic kidney disease are increasing among hypertensive patients in Sub-Saharan Africa. The majority of hypertensive patients with chronic kidney disease are not diagnosed at an early stage because of poor knowledge. However, to the best of our knowledge, there is no study conducted in Ethiopia about knowledge of hypertensive patients towards prevention and early detection of chronic kidney disease. Thus, the aim of this study was to assess knowledge towards prevention and early detection of chronic kidney disease and associated factors among hypertensive patients at Jimma town public hospitals, Ethiopia. METHODS: A hospital-based cross-sectional study was conducted among 332 hypertensive patients using an interviewer-administered questionnaire and medical record reviewing from April 5 to May 21, 2019. Study participants were selected using simple random sampling. Data were collected by using a standardized questionnaire. Data were entered into Epidata version 3.1 and analyzed by SPSS version 23. Descriptive statistics and bivariable and multivariable logistic regression were applied. To identify factors, a 95% confidence level and P value of less than 0.05 were considered. RESULTS: Over half (59.6%) were males, and the mean (±SD) age of participants was 54.92 (12.91) years. Among the total participants, more than half of them (47.9%) had good knowledge. Attending secondary education (AOR = 2.9, P = 0.014), higher education (AOR = 5.4, P = 0.001), working in private sectors (AOR = 4.3, P = 0.001), taking three and above drugs per day (AOR = 0.55, P = 0.016), and having a family history of kidney disease (AOR = 2.3, P = 0.012) were significantly associated with knowledge. Conclusion and Recommendation. Near to half of the study participants had good knowledge towards prevention and early detection of chronic kidney disease. Attending secondary education and above, working in private sectors, taking three and above drugs per day, and having a family history of kidney disease were independent predictors of knowledge. Hypertensive patients should be encouraged to be aware of risk factors of CKD, and health care providers should educate hypertensive patients about the prevention and early detection of chronic kidney disease.