Previous adverse pregnancy events as a predictor of gestational diabetes mellitus in Southern Ethiopia: a case control study.

INTRODUCTION: Gestational diabetes mellitus is a type of glucose intolerance that first manifests itself during pregnancy. A pregnant woman and her unborn child are at an increased risk of pregnancy complications and poor neonatal outcomes. Pregnancy diabetes affects one out of every 200 women. Therefore, this study aims to identify the determinants of gestational diabetes mellitus among pregnant women attending an antenatal care service in Gedeo Zone, Ethiopia. METHODS: A facility-based case-control study design was employed from 25 January 2020 through 25 April 2020. The study included 80 cases and 240 control groups of pregnant women. Face-to-face interviews with structured questionnaires were used to collect data. For analyses, data was entered into Epidata version 3.1 and exported to the Statistical Package for the Social Sciences (SPSS) version 23.0. Variables with p .25 or lower in bivariate analysis were fitted to multivariable analysis. A multivariable logistic regression model with a 95% confidence interval and a p-Value of .05 was used. RESULTS: Family history of diabetes mellitus [AOR 1.837; 95% CI (1.06-3.18)], history of spontaneous abortion [AOR 2.39; 95% CI 1.33-4.31), history of still birth [AOR 2.240 (1.222-4.105)], and history of delivery of a macrocosmic baby in the previous pregnancy [AOR 1.99 (1.157-3.43)] were found to be predictors of GDM. CONCLUSION: Previous adverse pregnancy outcomes were found to be the main predictors of GDM. Women with gestational diabetes mellitus should be followed after delivery in order to monitor hyper-glycemic status.

Iodine concentration level of iodized dietary salt and its associated factors: a systematic review and meta-analysis.

Background: Iodine deficiency disorder (IDD) is a major public health problem in Ethiopia. The availability of adequate iodized dietary salt at the household level is immensely important. Hence, this review aimed to estimate the pooled prevalence of adequate iodine concentration level of iodized dietary salt at the household level and its associated factors in Ethiopia. Methods: We searched the literature using electronic databases (PubMed/Medline, Google Scholar, Science Direct, and Embase) and gray literature from January 9, 2022, to February 25, 2022. The rapid test kit was used to measure the adequacy of iodine level of dietary salt. The quality of studies was assessed using Joanna Briggs Institute critical appraisal tool. Heterogeneity between studies was checked using I2 test statistics and publication bias was checked using funnel plot and Egger's statistical test at a 5% significance level. A random-effects model was employed to estimate the pooled prevalence of the outcome variable and its determinants in Ethiopia. Results: The search identified 149 studies of which 18 studies were included with a total of 10,556 participants. The pooled prevalence of adequate iodine levels of iodized salt in Ethiopia was 44.37% (95% CI: 35.85-52.88). Women who had formal education (adjusted odds ratio (AOR) = 1.99 (95% CI: 1.47-2.48)), good knowledge of women (AOR = 2.14, 95% CI: 1.36-3.36), packed iodized salt (AOR = 3.85 (95% CI: 1.88-7.87)) and storage of iodized salt at home for less than 2 months (AOR = 2.66 (95% CI: 2.11-3.35) were the significant factors. Conclusion: This review suggests that the pooled prevalence of adequate iodine levels was low. Our finding highlights the need for considering the educational status, knowledge, and duration of salt storage to enhance the prevalence of adequate levels of iodized salt at the national level.

The Prevalence of Stunting and Associated Factors among Children Under Five years of age in Southern Ethiopia: Community Based Cross-Sectional Study.

Background: According to the Ethiopian Mini Demographic Health survey (EMDHS) of 2019, about 37% of children under five years of age are stunted. Data are scarce on stunting in the study area. Objective: This study was aimed to assess the prevalence and factors associated with stunting in among children under five years of age in southern Ethiopia. Method: A community-based cross-sectional study was conducted among 660 randomly selected under five child-mother pairs. The study was conducted from December 1 to 30, 2018 using a structured pretested questionnaire and anthropometric measurement tools. A simple random sampling technique was used to select study participants. Data were entered into EpiData version 3.1 and analyzed by Statistical Package for the Social Sciences (SPSS) version 20 and Emergency Nutrition Assessment (ENA) for Standardizing Monitoring and Assessment of Relief and Transition (SMART) 2011 software. Variables with P-value < 0.25 during the bivariate were entered into multivariable logistic regression analysis and significant association with stunting was declared at P-value < 0.05 with 95% CI. Result: Prevalence of stunting among children under five years of age was 37.7%. Factors: family size less than five [AOR = 0.59; 95% CI (0.37, 0.97)], age less than 11 months [AOR = 0.17; 95% CI (0.08, 0.4)] and rich wealth status [AOR = 0.46; 95% CI (0.27, 0.79)] had a protective effect, while source of drinking water like river water [AOR = 5.11; 95% CI (1.6, 16.4)], presence of two or more under five children in the household [AOR = 1.72; 95% CI (1.07, 2.77)], undiversified diet [AOR = 1.82; (1.17, 2.83)] and household food insecurity [AOR = 1.83; 95% CI (1.13, 2.96)] increased the risk of stunting. Conclusion and recommendation: The prevalence of stunting was high. Child age, family size, number of children under five years of age in the household, wealth status, source of drinking water, undiversified diet, and household food insecurity were associated with stunting. Thus, efforts should be made to improve nutritional status through strengthening of nutrition education, promotion of different family planning methods to limit the family size, involvment in different income generating activities to improve wealth status, securing of household food, use of improved sources of water, and nutrition education to diversify child diet. Further longitudinal study is recommended for researchers.

Low immunization coverage in Wonago district, southern Ethiopia: A community-based cross-sectional study.

INTRODUCTION: Immunization is a cost-effective intervention that prevented more than 5 million deaths worldwide from 2010 to 2015. Despite increased vaccination coverage over the past four decades in many African countries, including Ethiopia, universal coverage has not yet been reached. Only 39% of children aged 12-23 months received full vaccinations in Ethiopia, according to the 2016 Ethiopian Demographic Health Survey. This study aimed to evaluate immunization coverage and identify individual and community factors that explain incomplete vaccination coverage among children aged 6-36 months in the Wonago district of southern Ethiopia. METHODS: We conducted a community-based, cross-sectional study in three randomly selected kebeles in the Wonago district from June to July 2017. Our nested sample of 1,116 children aged 6-36 months included 923 child-mother pairs (level 1) within kebeles (level 2). We conducted multilevel regression analysis using STATA software. RESULTS: Among participants, 85.0% of children aged 12-36 months received at least one vaccine, and 52.4% had complete immunization coverage. After controlling for several individual and community variables, we identified six significant predictor variables for complete immunization: Older mothers' age (AOR = 1.05, 95% CI: 1.00-1.09), higher utilization of antenatal care (AOR = 1.36, 95% CI: 1.14-1.62), one or more tetanus-toxoid vaccination during pregnancy (AOR = 2.64, 95% CI: 1.43-4.86), mothers knowing the age at which to complete child's vaccinations (AOR = 2.00, 95% CI: 1.25-3.20), being a female (AOR = 0.64, 95% CI: 0.43-0.95), and child receiving vitamin A supplementation within the last 6 months (AOR = 2.79, 95% CI: 1.59-4.90). We observed a clustering effect at the individual and community levels with an intra-cluster correlation coefficient of 48.1%. CONCLUSIONS: We found low immunization coverage among children in the Wonago district of southern Ethiopia, with significant differences across communities. Promoting maternal health care and community service could enhance immunization coverage.