Assessment of nutrition knowledge and associated factors among secondary school students in Haramaya district, Oromia region, eastern Ethiopia: implications for health education.

Background: Nutrition knowledge stands as a cornerstone in facilitating informed dietary choices, thereby profoundly impacting overall health and lifestyle outcomes. Malnutrition often correlates with deficient nutritional knowledge, highlighting the critical need for comprehensive understanding in this domain. While Ethiopia has seen considerable research on nutritional status and associated factors, there remains a paucity of studies specifically addressing nutrition knowledge among secondary school students, particularly within the Haramaya District. Therefore, this study aimed to meticulously assess nutrition knowledge and its determinants among secondary school students in Eastern Ethiopia. Methods: Employing an institutional-based cross-sectional design, we carefully selected 417 students from secondary schools in Haramaya District, Eastern Ethiopia, through simple random sampling. Data Research Topic entailed structured interviews, with subsequent entry into Epi Data version 3.1 for meticulous analysis utilizing SPSS version 21 software. Descriptive statistics summarized participant characteristics, while both bivariable and multivariable logistic regression analyses were conducted to elucidate factors associated with nutritional knowledge, setting statistical significance at p-value <0.05. Results: All 417 selected students participated in the study, yielding a commendable response rate of 100%. The median nutritional knowledge score among students stood at 58, with an interquartile range spanning from 44 to 66. Approximately 46.76% (95% CI: 42-51.59) of students exhibited good nutritional knowledge. Significant determinants of nutrition knowledge included sex [adjusted odds ratio (AOR) = 1.77, 95% CI: 1.03-3.04], being senior secondary students (AOR = 3.3, 95% CI: 1.95-5.73), and access to nutrition information (AOR = 3.3, 95% CI: 1.60-6.87). Conclusion: Our findings illuminate a notable level of nutritional knowledge among secondary school students in Haramaya District. However, discernible disparities in nutrition knowledge emerged based on gender, educational level, and access to nutrition information. These insights underscore the exigency of targeted interventions aimed at enhancing nutrition literacy among students, thereby fostering holistic health promotion endeavors.

Does neonatal resuscitation associated with neonatal death in low-resource settings? A follow-up study.

BACKGROUND: The newborn period is the most vulnerable phase for a child's survival, with around half of all under-five deaths worldwide occurring during this time. Despite existing policies and measures, Ethiopia ranks among the top 10 African countries in terms of newborn mortality. In spite of many studies being carried out in the country, the incidence and predictors of neonatal mortality in the Pastoralist and agro-pastoralist parts of the country's southern still remain unidentified. Therefore, this study aimed to identify the predictors of neonatal mortality in selected public Hospitals in southern Ethiopia. MATERIALS AND METHODS: An institution-based retrospective cohort study was conducted among 568 neonates admitted to the neonatal intensive care unit at Bule Hora University teaching Hospital and Yabelo General Hospital, Southern Ethiopia from 1 January 2020-31 December 2021. A simple random sampling technique was used to select records of neonates. Data entry was performed using Epidata version 3.1 and the analysis was performed using STATA version 14.1 Kaplan Meir curve and Log-rank test were used to estimate the survival time and compare survival curves between variables. Hazard Ratios with 95% CI were computed and all the predictors associated with the outcome variable at p-value 0.05 in the multivariable cox proportional hazards analysis were declared as a significant predictor of neonatal death. RESULTS: Out of 565 neonates enrolled, 54(9.56%) neonates died at the end of the follow-up period. The overall incidence rate of death was 17.29 (95% CI: 13.24, 22.57) per 1000 neonatal days with a restricted mean follow-up period of 20 days. Of all deaths, 64.15% of neonates died within the first week of life. In the multivariable cox-proportional hazard model, neonatal age < 7 days (AHR: 9.17, 95% CI: (4.17, 20.13), place of delivery (AHR: 2.48, 95% CI: (1.38, 4.47), Initiation of breastfeeding after 1 h of birth (AHR: 6.46, 95% CI: (2.24, 18.59), neonates' body temperature <36.5 °C (AHR: 2.14, 95% CI: (1.19, 3.83), and resuscitated neonates (AHR: 2.15, 95% CI: (1.20, 3.82) were independent predictors of neonatal death. CONCLUSION: In the research setting, the incidence of neonatal death was high, especially during the first week of life. The study found that neonatal age < 7 days, place of delivery, Initiation of breastfeeding after 1 h of birth, neonates' body temperature <36.5 °C, and resuscitated neonates were predictors of neonatal death. To improve newborn survival, significant neonatal problems, improved resuscitation, and other relevant factors should be addressed.

Assessment of Safety Requirements and Their Practices Among Teaching Laboratories of Health Institutes.

Background: Laboratory work provides students with the ability to process skills, perform experiments and tests, and interpret experimental data. Instead of traditional teaching methods, there are good laboratory experiences to develop a conceptual understanding of science. A lack of laboratory safety requirements and practice can affect the health of students, staff, and the environment. Therefore, the current study provides updated safety requirements and practice information. Objective: The purpose of this study was to evaluate safety requirements and practices among teaching laboratories at the Health Institute 2021. Methods: An institutional-based descriptive study design was conducted on November 15-20, 2020, among staff members of the Bule Hora University Institute of Health. Seventeen randomly selected academic staffs and laboratory assistants from 2 departments participated in the study. Data were collected through a self-administered questionnaire and an observational checklist. Finally, the data were coded and entered into Statistical Package for Social Sciences (SPSS) version 20 for analysis. Data were then analyzed using simple quantitative descriptions such as frequency counts and percentages. The data are presented in a table. Results: Of the safety requirements evaluated, only 33.3% (6) were available in the laboratory. Of the safety practices evaluated, 44.6% were used all the time, 37.7% were used occasionally, and 17.6% were never practiced in the laboratory by the respondents. Of his respondents, 58.8% had never been regularly inspected for laboratory safety, and 77% had never received training in laboratory safety. Observations show that teaching laboratories in health organizations lack safety manuals/first aid diaries or guidelines, laboratory building drainage systems, adequate ventilation, water flow, and appropriate laboratory sizes. Conclusions: This study reveals poor laboratory safety practices and safety requirements in teaching laboratories. These limitations may cause health problems, environmental pollution, contamination, and chemical spills. Stakeholders should improve safety requirements and create awareness among staff, students, and lab assistants.

Seroprevalence of Hepatitis B Virus Infection and Associated Factors Among Pregnant Women Attending Antenatal Care At Public Hospitals in Borena Zone, Southern Ethiopia.

Background: Hepatitis B virus (HBV) is one of the major threats to global health, affecting millions of people each year and causing morbidity and mortality. The risk of acquiring chronic HVV infection varies with age, with 90% of infections acquired during the perinatal period. Despite many studies, there is little evidence of this virus in the Borena Zone. Objectives: This study was done to assess seroprevalence HBVinfection and associated factors among pregnant women attending antenatal care at selected Borena Zone public hospitals from June 1 to September 30, 2022. Methods: A cross-institutional study was conducted on 368 randomly selected pregnant women who received antenatal care at Yabelo General Hospital and Moyale Primary Hospital. Data on sociodemographic and HBV-related factors were collected using a structured questionnaire. A 5 mL blood sample is then taken and tested using a diagnostic method, the enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay. Finally, data were entered using Epidata version 3.1 and exported to SPSS version 25 and Stata version 14 for analysis. Independent predictors were identified using logistic regression analysis and P < .05 was considered statistically significant. Results: The prevalence of HBV infection was 21 (5.7%) (95% confidence interval [CI], 3.74-8.61). History of hospitalization (adjusted odds ratio [AOR] = 3.44, 95% CI, 1.07-11.09), traditional tonsillectomy (AOR = 4.16, 95% CI, 1.29-13.40), history of sexually transmitted infection (AOR = 5.99, 95% CI, 1.81-19.85), human immunodeficiency virus (HIV) (AOR = 8.28, 95% CI, 1.66-41.41), and alcohol drinking (AOR = 5.08, 95% CI, 1.49-17.31) were independent predictors of HBV infection. Conclusions: The results of this study indicate a moderate prevalence of HBV in selected public hospitals in the Borena Zone. History of hospitalization, traditional tonsillectomy, sexually transmitted infections, HIV, and alcohol use was significantly associated with HBV infection. Therefore, there is a need to conduct health education and more community-based research on disease transmission routes.

Effectiveness of Health Education Interventions Methods to Improve Contraceptive Knowledge, Attitude, and Uptake Among Women of Reproductive Age, Ethiopia: A Systematic Review and Meta-Analysis.

Background: Globally, about 600,000 women die yearly as a result of pregnancy-related causes. Access to contraceptive health education has been described as one of the crucial interventions to confront maternal mortality. Nevertheless, the effectiveness of these interventions has not been systematically reviewed. Objective: To access the effectiveness of health education intervention methods to improve contraceptive knowledge, attitude, and uptake among reproductive age group women. Methods: This systematic review was conducted under Preferred Reporting Items for Systematic Reviews and Meta-Analyses (PRISMA) guidelines through a systematic literature search of articles published between 2010 and 2022 comprising information on the effects of health education on contraceptive knowledge, attitude, attitude, and utilization among the reproductive age group of women. The most known bibliographic databases and libraries: PubMed/Medline, Embase, and Cochrane library were used. Result: Eleven quasi-experimental studies fulfilled the inclusion criteria were included in the review. In a random effects model, the pooled estimate of the health education effect became 0.15 (95% CI = 0.104-0.206) at a P value of .001, and the pooled confidence intervals of the combined estimate of effect size occur on the positive side of zero. Therefore, contraceptive health education has a statistically significant positive effect on the contraceptive outcome despite variation between interventional and control groups. Conclusion and recommendation: This review found that interactive communication supported by various health education delivery methods like brochures, booklets, peer educators, and the use of different behavioral change theories are more effective than the one-way and routine counseling of the family planning (FP) health education approach.