Determinants of early antenatal care booking among pregnant mothers attending antenatal care at public health facilities in the Nole Kaba district, western Ethiopia: unmatched case-control study.

BACKGROUND: Early initiation of antenatal care (ANC) is vital for the early detection and treatment of adverse pregnancy outcomes. Despite the widespread convenience of free ANC services, most women in Ethiopia attend their initial antenatal clinic late and fail to come back for follow-up care, which results in both maternal and fetal complications. Despite the fact that assessing the determinants of early ANC booking based on the local context is advised, it is not well studied in the study area. OBJECTIVE: This study aimed to assess determinants of early ANC booking among pregnant women attending ANC at public health facilities in the Nole Kaba district, western Ethiopia. METHODS: Facility-based unmatched case-control study design was conducted from April to June 2020. Systematic random sampling was used to select a total of 297 participants. A validated, pretested and structured instrument was used to interview the participants. The data were cleaned and coded before being entered into Epi-Info V.7.2.2.6 and exported to SPSS V.25 for analysis. The logistic regression analyses were done to assess the determinants of early ANC booking. Adjusted odds ratio (AOR) with 95% CI was estimated to measure the strength of the association. The level of statistical significance was set at a p value <0.05. RESULT: A total of 297 pregnant women participated in the study (99 cases and 198 controls), with a 100% response rate. Place of residence (AOR=2.21, 95% CI 1.11, 2.72), level of education (AOR=3.42, 95% CI 1.01, 6.04), planned pregnancy (AOR=8.01, 95% CI 2.79, 23.03), history of abortion (AOR=5.96, 95% CI 2.07, 17.13), places of previous delivery (AOR=4.57, 95% CI 1.09, 19.12), presence of accompanied by husband during ANC visit (AOR=2.48, 95% CI 2.77, 7.98) and media exposure (AOR=6.95, 95 CI 2.68, 18.02) were found statistically significant. CONCLUSION AND RECOMMENDATIONS: Places of residence, educational level, pregnancy, having a history of abortion, accompanied by the husband during ANC visit, place of previous delivery and media exposure were significantly associated with early initiation of ANC. Therefore, health extension programmes on early ANC initiation should be strengthened by giving priority to less educated women and living in rural areas.

Knowledge and practice of cervical cancer screening and its associated factors among women attending maternal health services at public health institutions in Assosa Zone, Benishangul-Gumuz, Northwest Ethiopia, 2022: a cross-sectional study.

BACKGROUND: Cervical cancer ranks as the second most frequent cancer among all women in Ethiopia and the second most frequent cancer among women between 15 and 44 years of age, resulting in over 4884 moralities annually. Although there is a focus on health promotion through teaching and screening in Ethiopia's intended transition toward universal healthcare, there is little information available on baseline levels of knowledge and screening uptake related to cervical cancer. OBJECTIVES: This study explored the levels of knowledge and screening rates of cervical cancer along with its associated factors among women of reproductive age in Assosa Zone, Benishangul-Gumuz, Ethiopia in 2022. METHODOLOGY: A facility-based cross-sectional study was conducted. A systematic sampling technique was used to select 213 reproductive-age women from selected health institutions, from 20 April 2022 to 20 July 2022. A validated and pretested questionnaire was used for data collection. Multi-logistic regression analyses were done to identify factors independently associated with cervical cancer screening. Adjusted OR with 95% CI was estimated to measure the strength of association. The level of statistical significance was declared at a p value of <0.05. The results were presented in tables and figures. RESULT: Knowledge of cervical cancer screening in this study was 53.5%, and 36% of respondents had practised cervical cancer screening. Family history of cervical cancer (AOR)=2.5, 95% CI (1.04 to 6.44)), place of residence (AOR=3.68, 95% CI (2.23, 6.54)) and availability of health services at nearby (AOR=2.03, 95% CI (1.134, 3.643)) were significantly associated with knowledge of cervical cancer screening, while educational status (AOR=2.811, 95% CI (1.038 to 7.610)), knowing someone diagnosed with cervical cancer (AOR=8.3, 95% CI (2.4, 28.69)), Knowledge of cervical cancer(AOR=2.17, 95%CI(1.077, 4.384) and feeling feeling at risk (AOR=3.26 95% CI (1.52, 5.04)) were associated with the practice of cervical cancer screening. CONCLUSION AND RECOMMENDATION: Knowledge and practice of cervical cancer screening in this study were low. Therefore, the reproductive women must be encouraged to have early cervical cancer screening at precancerous stage by informing their susceptibility to cervical cancer.

Undiagnosed status and associated factors of hypertension among adults living in rural of central, Ethiopia, 2020: Uncovering the hidden magnitude of hypertension.

BACKGROUND: Hypertension is a major risk factor for cardiovascular (CVD) disease related deaths worldwide. It affects more than 20% of adults in Ethiopia, making it a major public health concern. Although it is important to uncover the hidden extent of hypertension, there is limited information on the proportion of undiagnosed hypertension in rural areas of the country. OBJECTIVE: This study aimed to determine the magnitude of undiagnosed hypertension and associated factors among adults living in the rural Dano district, Central Ethiopia 2020. METHODS AND MATERIALS: A quantitative, community-based cross-sectional study conducted from May to July 2020. A three-stage sampling technique was used to select a total of 605 study participants. A Validated tool was used to assess the participant's behavioral characteristics. Blood pressure was measured using digital blood pressure apparatus. The mean of three blood measurements was used to classify hypertension after intra-class correlation was tested. Standardized instruments were used to assess participants' health-seeking behavior and knowledge of the hypertensive disease. The proportion of undiagnosed hypertension was determined among patients with hypertension. The regression analyses were done to determine factors associated with undiagnosed hypertension. The adjusted odds ratio with 95% CI was estimated to measure the strength of the association. The level of statistical significance was set at a p-value < 0.05. RESULTS: The prevalence of undiagnosed hypertension was 21.32% (CI: 19.95%, 25.8%). Living in a household with the low wealth index [(AOR: 3.5,95%CI: (1.6,6.4)], far distance to health facility, [(AOR: 0.155,95%CI: (0.11.0.67)], underweight, [AOR = 2.2.1,95%CI:(2.00,4.22)], use of smokeless tobacco products, [AOR = 3.2,95%Cl:(1.88,4.75)], and participants' knowledge of hypertension were independently associated with undiagnosed hypertension. CONCLUSION: This study shows that undiagnosed hypertension is a major public health problem in the study area. Living in a household with a low wealth index, being far from a health facility, being underweight, using smokeless tobacco products, and having little knowledge about hypertension increase the likelihood of having undiagnosed Hypertension. Hypertension health information, particularly to smokes tobacco users, could improve the perceived susceptibility to hypertensive disease, and reduce the hidden extent of hypertension.