Determinants of WHO recommended COVID-19 prevention measures among pregnant women attending antenatal care during the third wave of COVID-19 in eastern Ethiopia, 2021.

BACKGROUND: The novel coronavirus disease has emerged as the most pressing global health issue. In women with COVID-19 disease, pregnancy confers a substantial additional risk of morbidity and mortality. OBJECTIVE: This study aimed to assess WHO-recommended COVID-19 prevention practices and determinant factors among pregnant women attending antenatal care during the third wave of COVID-19 in eastern Ethiopia. METHODS: An Institutional-based cross-sectional study was conducted among 422 pregnant women attending antenatal care in Harar, from October 10 to November 10, 2021. The sample size was proportionally allocated to all healthcare facilities, then the study participants were selected using systematic random sampling. Descriptive summary statistics were done. Logistic regression analyses were computed to identify associations between dependent and independent variables. Variables with a p-value < 0.05 were declared statistically significant. RESULT: Out of 422 pregnant women, 61.6% of them had good WHO Recommended COVID-19 Prevention Practices. Those with age 25-34 years (AOR: 9.7, 95%CI: 4.8, 19.3), age 35-44 years (AOR:4.8, 95%CI: 2.6, 9.03), monthly income > 10,000 ETB (AOR: 9.4, 95%CI: 2.1, 42.1), being a student (AOR: 10, 95%CI: 2.3, 47.1), having a good level of knowledge (AOR: 2.3, 95%CI:1.4, 3.8), and having ≥10 family members (AOR: 0.24, 95%CI: 0.06, 0.9) were found to have a significant association with WHO recommended prevention practice among pregnant women. CONCLUSION: Overall, the WHO-recommended COVID-19 prevention practice among pregnant women attending antenatal care was good, but it needs improvement. In order to improve prevention practices among pregnant women, Harari Regional Health Bureau and other stakeholders should provide repeated, targeted, and tailored information to pregnant women and the community at large through different media.

Magnitude of husbands' involvement in skilled birth attendant service utilization in Deder town, Oromiya, Ethiopia.

BACKGROUND: Husbands' involvement strategies are employed to support their wives to access care, address the influence of gender inequality on maternal and newborn health, and promote husbands' positive involvement as fathers. Yet, evidence of the husbands' involvement in skilled birth attendant service utilization in Ethiopia is scarce, which limits the facility to improve institutional delivery services. Therefore, this study aimed to assess the magnitude of husbands' involvement in skilled birth attendant service utilization among fathers of children of less than one year in Deder town, Oromiya, Ethiopia. METHODS: A community-based cross-sectional study was conducted using a structured questionnaire among 399 fathers selected by a simple random sampling technique. Data were collected through face-to-face interview from March 24 to April 20, 2021. Data entry was done by Epi-data version-4.2 and analyzed with SPSS version-21. Descriptive statistics used frequency, mean and median and presented by tables and figures. The level of significance was set at p-value ≤0.05 for multivariable logistic regression and an adjusted odds ratio with a 95% confidence interval was used to measure the degree of statistical significance of dependent and independent variables. RESULT: The prevalence of husbands' involvement in skilled birth attendant service utilization was 84.2%. The age group of 25 to 29 years (AOR = 2.63, CI: 1.124-6.142), prior knowledge of skilled-delivery attendants (AOR = 2.75, CI: 1.456-5.205) and good attitude towards skilled birth attendants (AOR =2.46, CI: 1.227-4.948) were statistically significant determinants of husbands' involvement in skilled birth attendants service utilization. CONCLUSION AND RECOMMENDATION: This study revealed that the husbands' involvement in skilled birth attendants was high. Age, level of knowledge and attitude were the significant determinants of husbands' involvement in promoting skilled-delivery attendants. Therefore, improving husbands' level of knowledge and attitude towards skilled birth attendants is needed.

COVID-19 vaccine side effect: age and gender disparity in adverse effects following the first dose of AstraZeneca COVID-19 vaccine among the vaccinated population in Eastern Ethiopia: a community-based study.

Objective: The pandemic of coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) is a major threat to community health, and vaccinations are a safe and effective way to reduce disease loads around the world. This study aimed to assess the age and gender disparity in adverse effects following the first dose of the AstraZeneca COVID-19 vaccine among the vaccinated population in Eastern Ethiopia. Methods: A community-based cross-sectional study design was conducted among 832 randomly selected individuals from December 1st to 20th, 2021, in eastern Ethiopia. Data were collected by face-to-face interviews using a pretested structured questionnaire. Data were analyzed using the SPSS V26. Descriptive summary statistics were done. A chi-square test statistic was computed to assess the difference in adverse effects between age groups and both genders. Result: Out of 832 study participants who had taken the first dose of AstraZeneca vaccine, 96.3% of them felt at least one adverse effect. The magnitude of adverse reactions was higher among male participants. The reported adverse reactions were significantly higher in the age group of 50-60 years with comorbidity than those of <50 and >60 years of age. Conclusion: Overall, there is a significant age and gender difference in adverse effects following the first dose of the AstraZeneca COVID-19 vaccine. In addition, adverse reactions were higher among people with comorbidity in the age group of 50-60 years. The Harari Regional Health Bureau should provide training for frontline healthcare workers on early recognition and response to adverse effects of the COVID-19 vaccine. In addition, information and education should be provided to the community as a whole regarding recognition and the appropriate measures to be taken.

Determinants of COVID-19 vaccine uptake and barriers to being vaccinated among first-round eligibles for COVID-19 vaccination in Eastern Ethiopia: A community based cross-sectional study.

OBJECTIVE: Coronavirus disease is a deadly virus that continues to afflict many countries worldwide. Ethiopia has planned to give vaccines to 20% of the population by March 2022. This study aimed to assess determinants of vaccine uptake and barriers to being vaccinated among first-round eligibles for coronavirus disease vaccination in Harar, eastern Ethiopia. METHODS: A community-based cross-sectional study design was conducted among 820 randomly selected coronavirus disease first-round eligible groups in Harar from August 20 to September 15, 2021. Descriptive summary statistics were done. Logistic regression analyses were computed to identify associations between dependent and independent variables. Variables with a p value of <0.05 were declared statistically significant. RESULT: Out of 820, only 39.4% of participants took the coronavirus disease vaccine. The main barriers to being vaccinated were, belief vaccine has no use (24%), and belief vaccine causes blood clots (17.9%). Being a merchant (adjusted odds ratio: 7.9, 95% confidence interval: 2.6, 24), people who had no schooling (adjusted odds ratio: 2.5, 95% confidence interval: 1.3, 4.9), having attitude below the mean score (adjusted odds ratio: 2.1, 95% confidence interval: 1.4, 2.8), having coronavirus disease prevention practice above the mean score (adjusted odds ratio: 2.1, 95% confidence interval: 1.4, 2.8), and family size < 5 members (adjusted odds ratio: 0.64, 95% confidence interval: 0.4, 0.9) were found to be significantly associated with coronavirus disease vaccination. CONCLUSION: Overall, coronavirus disease-19's first-round vaccination status was low. The number of people vaccinated was higher among 50-60 age groups than those who are >60 years. Being female, being a person with no schooling, being a merchant, being a farmer, and having low coronavirus disease prevention practice was found to be significantly associated with coronavirus disease vaccination. We recommend that the Federal Ministry of Health, Harari Regional Health Bureau, and other concerned stakeholders should work more diligently to provide continued campaigning on coronavirus disease vaccination and better vaccine awareness creation, as this is the only way out of this epidemic.