Alcohol consumption and associated factors among pregnant women attending antenatal care at governmental hospitals in Harari regional state, Eastern, Ethiopia.

BACKGROUND: Alcohol consumption during the pregnancy period is high despite the well-established evidence of its harmful effects on pregnancy and infant development. Early identification and behavioral modification are of great significance. This study aimed to assess the prevalence and associated factors of alcohol consumption among pregnant women attending antenatal care at governmental hospitals in the Harari regional state, Eastern Ethiopia. METHOD: From April 1/2022-May 1/2022, an institutional-based cross-sectional survey was conducted among 589 pregnant women attending antenatal care governmental hospitals in Harari regional state. A systematic random sampling technique was used to select study participants during the study period. Data were collected through face-to-face interview methods using AUDIT-C. The collected data were coded, entered into Epi-data data version 3.1, and analyzed by SPSS Version 26. Binary logistic regression was carried out to identify independent predictors of alcohol consumption at a 95% confidence level. RESULTS: From a total of 617 eligible participants, 589 participated in the study with a response rate of 95.46%. The overall prevalence of alcohol consumption among pregnant women in Harari regional state governmental hospitals was 21.2% (95% CI:17.8, 24.4). In multivariate analysis, single marital status (AOR = 5.18;95% CI (2.66,10.11), previous history of abortion(AOR = 4.07;95% CI(2.06,8.04), family history of mental illness (AOR = 4.79;95% CI (1.94,11.83), depression (AOR 2.79; 95%CI(1.35,5.76), and anxiety(AOR = 2.51; 95% CI (1.23, 5.12) were variables found to have a statistically significant association with alcohol consumption during pregnancy in Harari regional state governmental hospitals. CONCLUSION: In comparison to the majority of other research, the prevalence of alcohol usage during pregnancy was high in this study. This study observed that single marital status, previous history of abortion, family history of mental illness, depression, and anxiety were highly associated with alcohol consumption during pregnancy. Hence, responsible bodies working on mother and child health should try to mitigate or remove the above-mentioned risks when developing interventions.

Determinants of hypertensive crisis among hypertensive patients at adult emergency departments of public hospitals in Addis Ababa, Ethiopia, 2021: a case-control study.

BACKGROUND: Hypertension (HTN) is a major global health problem that affects approximately 1.13 billion people worldwide, and 1-2% of this population has hypertensive crisis. Hypertensive crisis is becoming a major health issue in low-income countries. However, few studies have been conducted in developing countries such as Ethiopia. This study aimed to assess the determinants of hypertensive crisis among patients visiting adult emergency departments of public hospitals in Addis Ababa. METHOD: A hospital-based unmatched case-control study was conducted among 85 cases with a hypertensive crisis and 170 controls with hypertension without a hypertensive crisis in the adult emergency departments of public hospitals in Addis Ababa from March 15 to May 15, 2021. Data were collected using a structured questionnaire and analyzed using SPSS version 26. Binary logistic regression and multivariable logistic regression were performed. Finally, a statistically significant level was declared at a p value of less than 0.05. The result was summarized and presented in text, tables, and graph. RESULT: The odds of having hypertensive crisis were 3.6 times (AOR = 3.621) higher among participants with a history of hypertension compared to those without a history of hypertension. There was also 4 times increased risk of hypertensive crisis among participants who presented with diabetes mellitus than participants who presented without it (AOR = 4.179). Similarly, participants who presented with stroke had 7 times higher odds of having hypertensive crisis (AOR = 7.174) than participants without stroke. CONCLUSION: This study demonstrated a statistically significant association between unemployment, diabetes mellitus, stroke, heart failure, history of hypertension, family history of hypertension, and regular follow-up with a hypertensive crisis. The Ethiopian Ministry of Health, Ababa City Administration Health Bureau, and hospitals shall give due attention to the HTN crisis. Health care workers, hospital managers, and other stakeholders shall work towards the early detection and management of HTN-crisis to prevent related morbidity, disability, and mortality.

Quality of life and associated factors among family caregivers of individuals with psychiatric illness at DRH, South Wollo, Ethiopia, 2020.

Mental illness results in an enormous social and economic burden not only on patients, but also on their families and communities. Many caregivers of patients with mental illnesses suffer from an extremely poor quality of life. In Sub-Saharan Africa, approximately 71% caregivers suffer from economic burden of severe mental illness. To our knowledge, no study has been conducted on quality of life of caregivers in Ethiopia. Therefore, this study aimed to assess the quality of life of family caregivers of patients with mental illness at Dessie Referral Hospital. The institution-based cross-sectional study was conducted among 398 caregivers selected using a consecutive sampling technique. The World Health Organization Quality of Life BREF was used to assess the quality of life. Logistic regression was performed and statistical significance was declared at a p-value < 0.05. 189 (47.5%) of family caregivers had poor quality of life. Being divorced, unable to read and write, primary education, being spouse, sibling and children of the patient, poor social support and high perceived stigma were significantly associated with the outcome variable. Because the magnitude of poor quality of life among family caregivers was high, family intervention programs are highly recommended to improve quality of life among caregivers.

Depressive, Anxiety Symptom Frequency and Related Factors Among Prisoners During the COVID-19 Pandemic in Northeastern Ethiopia, a Cross-Sectional Study.

Background: Among the more than 10 million people imprisoned around the world, the rate of mental illness is higher than among the general population for various reasons. Although rates of mental illnesses such as depression and anxiety in this population may have changed as a response to the coronavirus disease (COVID-19) outbreak and other factors, to our knowledge, no related studies have been conducted related to depression and anxiety in this population during the pandemic. Therefore, this study aimed to assess depression, anxiety, and associated factors among Dessie City prisoners during the 2020 COVID-19 outbreak. Methods: An institution-based cross-sectional survey was conducted in October 2020. A total of 420 prisoners were selected via a systematic sampling technique. PHQ-9 depression scale, generalized anxiety disorder-7 questionnaire, Oslo 3-item social support scale, insomnia severity index, and Brief COPE scale were used. Data were entered by using Epi-Data version 3.1 and finally exported to Statistical Package for Social Science Software version 21 for analysis. We fitted a multiple binary logistic regression model. Finally, an adjusted odds ratio with 95% confidence interval was reported and factors with a p-value < 0.05 were considered as significant for depression and anxiety. Results: This study showed that 279 (66.4%) of imprisoned people had major depressive disorder with 95% CI of (61.4, 70.6), while 281 (66.9) had generalized anxiety disorder with 95% CI of (61.9, 71.9). Conclusion: In this study, the overall prevalence of depression and anxiety was significantly high, and was related to a number of factors including COVID-19. Therefore, designing and implementing strategies for COVID-19 prevention and control in prisons is highly recommended to reduce mental health problems among prisoners.

Generalized Anxiety Disorder, Depressive Symptoms, and Sleep Problem During COVID-19 Outbreak in Ethiopia Among Police Officers: A Cross-Sectional Survey.

Background: Coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) is an outbreak that caused serious threats to people worldwide. Police officers are one of those frontline fighters during pandemic. Our study is the first to examine psychological health response among police officers in Ethiopia during the COVID-19 outbreak. Methods: A cross-sectional study design with a self-administered questionnaire was conducted among police officers from Dessie town from June 20 to July 10, 2020. A total of 385 questionnaires were completed correctly accounting for 91% of the total. The data were collected by using demographic information and psychological health assessment tools. The Patient Health Questionnaire (PHQ-9), Generalized Anxiety Disorder 7-item scale (GAD-7), Insomnia Severity Index (ISI), and Brief Resilient Coping Scale questionnaire were used to assess depression, anxiety, sleep, and coping status of participants. Results: The rate of depression was found to be 28.9%. Of these, 19.7% had mild, 7.3% had moderate, 1.6 had moderate-severe, and 0.3% had severe depression symptoms. The rate of general anxiety symptoms was found to be 30.2%. Of these, 22.1% of the police officers had mild, 2.6% had moderate, and 5.5% had severe anxiety. Moreover, 13.8% of police officers had subthreshold insomnia and 2.1% had clinical (moderate-severe) insomnia. Participants who are men, married, highly resilient, and have high social support were associated with lower depression, anxiety, and insomnia scores than those of women, being single or widowed/divorced, low resilient coping score, and low social support, respectively. Conclusion: A psychological health problem was found to be higher among police officers in Dessie town. Younger age, sex, marital status, having chronic diseases, coping, and social support with depression, general anxiety, and insomnia were found to be significantly associated with psychological health problems. There is a need for mental health services, support, and care of police officers during the pandemic.

Adherence to Lifestyle Modifications and Associated Factors Among Adult Hypertensive Patients Attending Chronic Follow-Up Units of Dessie Referral Hospital, North East Ethiopia, 2020.

BACKGROUND: Hypertension is a major health problem throughout the world which affects over one billion people due to severe complications and inadequate control. Even though lifestyle modification is one of the most effective ways to prevent and control hypertension, only little emphasis has been given for it compared with treating hypertension with medication. Therefore, the aim of this study was to assess adherence to lifestyle modifications and associated factors among hypertensive patients attending Dessie referral hospital. MATERIALS AND METHODS: Institutional-based cross-sectional study design was conducted among 301 hypertensive patients during May and June, 2020. The study participants were selected with a convenient sampling technique due to the COVID-19 pandemic. Data were collected using pre-tested and structured face to face interviewer-administered questionnaire and checked, cleaned and entered into Epi data version 4.4 and exported to SPSS version 25.0 software for analysis. The associations between independent variables and dependent variable were analyzed using binary logistic regression models. RESULTS: A total of 301 respondents participated in the study yielding a response of 100%. The overall adherence in this study was only 23.6%. Independent predictors of adherence to lifestyle modifications were divorced (AOR=0.35; 95% CI (0.13-0.94)) and widowed (AOR=0.27; 95% CI (0.10-0.75)), secondary school education (AOR=4.85; 95% CI (1.54-15.22)), no regular income (AOR=0.22; 95% CI (0.08-0.65)) or monthly income of ≥3000 ETB (AOR=5.58; 95% CI (2.46-12.66)), having co-morbidities (AOR=2.37; CI (1.23-4.57)), good knowledge about the disease (AOR=1.83; CI (0.92-3.65)) and good self-efficacy (AOR=3.64; CI (1.75-7.55)). CONCLUSION AND RECOMMENDATIONS: The overall adherence to recommended lifestyle modifications was very low. The independent predictors were marital status, educational level, monthly income, having co-morbidities, knowledge and self-efficacy. Therefore, multifaceted and collaborative implementation of strategies about lifestyle modifications for hypertension prevention and control are needed to address barriers at the patient, provider, system and community levels.