Leadership Commitment and the Quality of Adolescent-Friendly Sexual Reproductive Health Services in Public Health Facilities Among Pastoral Districts of Guji Zone, Ethiopia.

Background: Accessible and high-quality sexual and reproductive health services are essential for adolescents. However, there is a need for more knowledge about the role of leadership and the quality of these services in Ethiopia, where a significant proportion of the population consists of adolescents. Inadequate quality of friendly health services may lead to underutilization and higher rates of unintended pregnancies and sexually transmitted infections. This study aimed to evaluate the leadership role and quality of friendly health services in the pastoral community of East Guji Zone, Ethiopia. Methods: We implemented in-depth interviews and focus group discussions with eight key informants and fifty participants. Study design: We used a programmatic qualitative research design. Data were collected using 22 semi-structured questions and analyzed using ATLAS.ti7. Results: The findings indicate significantly less commitment to health sector leadership and substandard quality of adolescent-friendly sexual and reproductive health services. Inadequate achievement of the quality of care frameworks, including accessibility, equitability, availability, acceptability, and appropriateness, contributed to the insufficient quality of friendly health services. Conclusions and Recommendations: Poor commitment of health facility leaders influenced the quality of adolescent-friendly sexual and reproductive health services in the pastoral community of the East Guji Zone, according to the study. We recommend enhancing organizational and provider readiness, ensuring equitability, and redesigning services through improving leadership commitment, which is crucial to improving the quality of adolescent-friendly health services. The Ministry of Health Ethiopia and relevant stakeholders should consider these recommendations to improve the quality of friendly health services for adolescents in Ethiopia.

Effectiveness of Health Education Interventions Methods to Improve Contraceptive Knowledge, Attitude, and Uptake Among Women of Reproductive Age, Ethiopia: A Systematic Review and Meta-Analysis.

Background: Globally, about 600,000 women die yearly as a result of pregnancy-related causes. Access to contraceptive health education has been described as one of the crucial interventions to confront maternal mortality. Nevertheless, the effectiveness of these interventions has not been systematically reviewed. Objective: To access the effectiveness of health education intervention methods to improve contraceptive knowledge, attitude, and uptake among reproductive age group women. Methods: This systematic review was conducted under Preferred Reporting Items for Systematic Reviews and Meta-Analyses (PRISMA) guidelines through a systematic literature search of articles published between 2010 and 2022 comprising information on the effects of health education on contraceptive knowledge, attitude, attitude, and utilization among the reproductive age group of women. The most known bibliographic databases and libraries: PubMed/Medline, Embase, and Cochrane library were used. Result: Eleven quasi-experimental studies fulfilled the inclusion criteria were included in the review. In a random effects model, the pooled estimate of the health education effect became 0.15 (95% CI = 0.104-0.206) at a P value of .001, and the pooled confidence intervals of the combined estimate of effect size occur on the positive side of zero. Therefore, contraceptive health education has a statistically significant positive effect on the contraceptive outcome despite variation between interventional and control groups. Conclusion and recommendation: This review found that interactive communication supported by various health education delivery methods like brochures, booklets, peer educators, and the use of different behavioral change theories are more effective than the one-way and routine counseling of the family planning (FP) health education approach.

Sexual coercion at sexual debut and associated factors among young females in rural areas of Boset District, Eastern Ethiopia: a mixed method study.

Objectives: Assess the prevalence and associated factors of sexual coercion at sexual debut among young females in rural areas of Boset district, Oromia Region, Eastern Ethiopia. Methods: Cross-sectional community based study design was conducted using both qualitative and quantitative data collection methods. A sample of 632 young females aged 10-24 years was taken from six rural Kebeles by systematic random sampling for quantitative and data were collected using a pre-tested structured questionnaire. The collected data was analyzed using SPSS version 23. Principally Binary Logistic regression model was fitted. Moreover, eight focus group discussions targeting different groups were held andanalyzed thematically. Results: The prevalence of sexual coercion at sexual debut was 36.5% (95%CI: 34.6%-38.4%) among sexually active respondents. Married young female (AOR, 0.71; 95%CI: 0.42, 0.81), living away from their parents (AOR, 5.07; 95%CI: 1.07,24.01), age group of 15- 19 years (AOR, 0.19; 95%CI: 0. 06, 0.54), alcohol consumption (AOR, 2.44; 95%CI: 1.17, 5.08) and Khat chewing (AOR, 8.30; 95%CI: 1.89, 36.38) were factors predicting the likelihood of having sexual coercion at sexual debut. Conclusion: Sexual coercion at sexual debut is a major public health problem among young females in the study community. The emerging program interventions need to take this problem into consideration.

Adherence to COVID-19 preventive measures and associated factors in Oromia regional state of Ethiopia.

BACKGROUND: Adherence to preventive measures of Coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) was among the means to tackle the transmission of the virus. However, reluctance to implement the recommended preventive measures has been reported to be a major problem everywhere including Oromia Regional State. PURPOSE: This research was aimed to assess the level of adherence to COVID-19 preventive measures and associated factors in the study area. PARTICIPANTS AND METHODS: Community based cross-sectional study was conducted. Sample of 2751 adults aged ≥ 18 years were used for the quantitative study. Also, 20 FGDs and 30 KIIs were conducted in the qualitative approach. The collected data were entered into Epi info version 7.2.0.1 and analyzed using STATA 15. The qualitative data were entered into NVivo version 12 for its organization. Bivariate and multivariable binary logistic regression analyses were conducted to determine the association between the study variables. Odds Ratio with its 95%CI was calculated and P- Value < 0.05 was used as a cut off points to declare the significance. RESULTS: The level of adherence to COVID-19 preventive measure was 8.3. Age [AOR, 4.00; 95% CI: 1.50, 10.45], Illiterate AOR, 0.38; 95% CI: 0.15, 0.93], read and write [AOR, 0.26; 95% CI: 0.10, 0.72], attended primary [AOR, 0.30; 95% CI: 0.13, 0.70], occupation (AOR; 95% CI: 0.29, 0.96] and knowledge [AOR, 0.20; 95% CI: 0.01, 0.11] were factors associated with level of adherence to COVID-19 preventive measures. Political context, unemployment, livelihoods, and social events were mentioned as reasons for the poor adherence to COVID-19 preventive measures. CONCLUSIONS: The overall level of adherence to COVID-19 preventive measures in the study area was low. Age, level of education, occupation, and knowledge were factors associated with level of adherence to COVID-19 preventive measures. Activities to increase the adherence to COVID-19 preventive measures should be implemented by the concerned bodies.

Focused Family Planning Counseling Increases Immediate Postpartum Intrauterine Contraceptive Device Uptake: A Quasi-Experimental Study.

PURPOSE: The aim of the study was to assess the effectiveness of focused family planning counseling (FFPC) in increasing postpartum intrauterine contraceptive device (PPIUCD) uptake among mothers who gave birth in the public health facilities of the towns of Adama and Olenchiti from April 1 to May 30, 2017. METHODS: A quasi-experimental study design was employed, taking a sample of 726 postpartum mothers: 484 in the non-intervention group (NIG) and 242 in the intervention group (IG). Focused family planning counseling was given to the IG using a newly designed cue card adapted from World Health Organization (WHO) guidelines and developed based on the constructs of the health belief model. Counseling based on a routine counseling approach was given to the NIG. The interviewer administered a semi-structured questionnaire for data collection. Data were analyzed using SPSS software, version 20. Descriptive statistics were used to characterize the study participants. The difference in the proportion of PPIUCD uptake in the two groups was tested using an independent Z-test at an alpha level of 0.05. Binary logistics regression was used to identify factors associated with the odds of taking IUCD. The significance of association was declared for P-values less than 0.05. RESULTS: The proportion of PPIUCD uptake in the IG [12.4%; 95% CI: 8.6, 17.4] was significantly higher than in the NIG [4.8%; 95% CI: 2.9, 6.7] with a P-value = 0.000. The odds of IUCD uptake among the IG was about 6 times higher (AOR: 5.92; 95% CI: 2.79, 12.60) than in the NIG. In addition, being unmarried women (AOR: 12.96; 95% CI: 4.30, 34.56), having higher education (AOR: 3.07; 95% CI: 1.13, 8.36), grand multiparity (AOR: 3.76; 95% CI: 1.58, 8.95), making a mutual decision (AOR: 0.16, 95% CI: 0.07, 0.38) and having a better knowledge of family planning (AOR: 5.92, 95% CI: 2.79, 12.60) were factors associated with uptake. CONCLUSION: Providing FFPC immediately increases PPIUCD uptake. The uptake was also associated with marital status, education, parity, decision and knowledge on family planning.

Knowledge, attitude and practice of students towards blood donation in Arsi university and Adama science and technology university: a comparative cross sectional study.

BACKGROUND: Blood can save millions of lives. Even though people do not donate blood regularly, there is a constant effort to balance the supply and demand of blood. The aim of this study was, therefore, to determine the knowledge, attitude and practice of blood donation between university students. METHODS: The comparative cross sectional study design was used in Adama Science and Technology University and Arsi University from April 11-May 2, 2016.360 students were selected using stratified sampling. Frequencies and proportions were computed. Chi-Square and logistic regressions were carried out and associations were considered significant at p<0.05. RESULT: The study revealed that there was a significant knowledge difference (χ2 = 152.779, p<0.001) and Attitude difference (χ2 = 4.142, p = 0.042) between Health Science students of Arsi University and Non-Health Science students of Adama Science and Technology University. The gender of the students (AOR = 3.150, 95% CI: 1.313, 7.554) was a significant predictor of the level of knowledge of Health Science students. The ethnicity of students (AOR = 2.085, 95% CI: 1.025, 4.243) was a significant predictor of the level of an attitude of Health Science students and gender of students (AOR = 0.343, 95% CI: 0.151, 0.779) was a significant predictor of the level of an attitude of Health Science students. Concerning Non-Health Science students, religion (AOR = 10.173, 95% CI: 1.191, 86.905) and original residence (AOR = 0.289, 95% CI: 0.094, 0.891) were a significant predictor of the level of knowledge of Non-Health Science students. Gender (AOR = 0.389, 95% CI: 0.152, 0.992) and Year of study (AOR = 0.389(0.164, 0.922) were significant predictor of level of attitude of Non-Health Science students. Year of study (AOR = 5.159, 95% CI: 1.611, 16.525) was a significant predictor of level of practice of Health Science students. CONCLUSION: Significant knowledge difference and attitude difference were observed between students from Arsi University and Adama Science and Technology University.

Intimate partner violence against women in west Ethiopia: a qualitative study on attitudes, woman's response, and suggested measures as perceived by community members.

INTRODUCTION: Intimate partner violence against women is more prevalent in Ethiopia and among the highest in the world. This study was aimed to explore the attitudes of the community on intimate partner violence against women, the strategies women are using after the violence act, and suggested measures to stop or reduce the act in East Wollega Zone. METHODS: A total of 12 focus group discussions involving 55 men and 60 women were conducted from December, 2011 to January, 2012. Discussants were purposefully selected from urban and rural settings of the study area. The analyses followed the procedure for qualitative thematic analysis. RESULTS: Three themes (attitudes, coping strategies, and suggested measures) were emerged. Most discussants perceived, intimate partner violence is accepted in the community in circumstances of practicing extra marital sex and suspected infidelity. The majority of women are keeping silent and very few defend themselves from the violent husbands/partners. The suggested measures by the community to stop or reduce women's violence were targeting actions at the level of individual, family, community, and society. CONCLUSION: In the study community, the attitude of people and traditional norms influence the acceptability for the act of intimate partner violence against women. Most victims are tolerating the incident while very few are defending themselves from the violent partners. The suggested measures for stopping or reducing women's violence focused on provision of education for raising awareness at all levels using a variety of approaches targeting different stakeholders. It is recommended that more efforts are needed to dispel myths, misconceptions and traditional norms and beliefs of the community. There is a need for amending and enforcing the existing laws as well as formulating the new laws concerning women violence including rape. Moreover, providing professional help at all levels is essential.