ABSTRACT
Increased accessibility to Antiretroviral Therapy (ART) has resulted in the decline of deaths among children with Perinatally Infected Human Immunodeficiency Virus (PIHIV). Their adherence to Highly Active ART (HAART) is vital for their survival and quality of life. This study aimed at determining HAART medication adherence among adolescents with PIHIV. The study was cross-sectional conducted from September 2015 to January 2016 at a teaching hospital in Ghana. It involved 106 adolescents aged 10-20 years. Morisky's eight-item medication adherence scale was adapted and used to determine the adherence level. Factors influencing adherence were also determined by interviewing the adolescents. EpiData 3.1 and Stata version 12 were used for data entry and analysis respectively. There was low adherence in 76.4% of the adolescents, and the HAART regimen associated with high medication adherence was tenofovir, lamivudine and efavirenz combinations (p = .011). Forgetfulness (p = .001) and inability to come for refill (p = .013) were the main factors associated with low adherence. However adherence was not significantly associated with a lack of medication supply or stigmatization. Addressing the modifiable factors found in this study to be associated with low adherence are essential interventions for their long-term quality of life.
Subject(s)
Antiretroviral Therapy, Highly Active , HIV Infections/drug therapy , Hospitals, Teaching , Infectious Disease Transmission, Vertical , Medication Adherence , Adolescent , Adult , Child , Child, Preschool , Cross-Sectional Studies , Female , Ghana , HIV Infections/transmission , Humans , Male , Quality of Life , Young AdultABSTRACT
Serum ferritin levels were determined in 85 Healthy Ghanaian adults (45 men and 39 women) with a Ciba Corning 125I-Ferritin procedure. Concentrations showed a non-guassian distribution. Values for males ranged from 5.6-273 ng/ml and from 0.74-135 ng/ml for females. The non-guassian nature of the distribution necessitated a logarithmic transformation of the data in order to calculate the serum ferritin reference range (Mean +/- 2SD) for the subjects. The reference range for the males (antilogarithm) was 8.5-306.5 ng/ml (mean = 51.0 ng/ml). The reference range for the Ghanaian women was 3-112 ng/ml (mean = 18.0 ng/ml). The reported reference range for the Caucasian male is 7-350 ng/ml (mean -51.0 ng/ml) and for the Caucasian female, 5-135 ng/ml (mean = 22.0 ng/ml). These Ghanaian reference ranges agree closely with the caucasian values. Data from this preliminary study suggest serum ferritin values of < 8.5 ng/ml and < 3 ng/ml could serve as cut-off points below which iron deficiency may be said to be present in the adult Ghanaian male and female respectively when the same method of analysis is used. A further study of ferritin levels in the Ghanaian is recommended. Pending further work, continued use of the conventional cut-off points of 20 ng/ml for males and 10 ng/ml for females to identify iron-deficient individuals is in order. These conventional cut-off points enhance chances for identifying iron-deficient individuals.
Subject(s)
Anemia, Iron-Deficiency/blood , Anemia, Iron-Deficiency/diagnosis , Black People , Ferritins/blood , Adult , Female , Ghana , Hemoglobins/analysis , Humans , Male , Middle Aged , Reference Values , Sex Characteristics , Statistical Distributions , White PeopleABSTRACT
The milk yield and 7-day weighed food intakes of 6 lactating mothers in the post-partum period of 2 to 10 months were determined. Breast-milk was analysed for protein and vitamin A. Weights and heights of the mothers and their infants were taken. The results suggest that even though milk yield may seem low compared with values from developed countries; exclusive breast-feeding of the Ghanaian infant for the first 4 months of life will support satisfactory growth
Subject(s)
Breast Feeding , Humans , Infant Nutrition , Lactation , MilkABSTRACT
Hair samples from seven sick Ghanaian children were analyzed for amino acids. Cystine was determined by a procedure of Friedman using tributylphosphine and 2-vinylpyridine to change residues of cystine (and cysteine, if present) to S-beta-(2-pyridylethyl)-L-cysteine (2-PEC). This acid-stable derivative is released by normal acid hydrolysis and is eluted as a well-resolved peak before lysine in conventional ion-exchange amino acid analysis. The average cystine content of six children suffering from kwashiorkor or marasmic kwashiorkor was found to be about 20% less than that of the one remaining child, whose protein nutrition was judged adequate. In view of conflicting evidence of the relation of hair cystine content and nutrition, we believe further definitive studies of this subject are urgent. No other substantial difference in amino acid composition was noted.
