Latrine utilization and associated factors among districts implementing and not-implementing community-led total sanitation and hygiene in East Wollega, Western Ethiopia: A comparative cross-sectional study.

INTRODUCTION: Discharge of excreta to the environment lead to surface and groundwater contamination and human exposure to disease-causing micro-organisms. There is limitation of evidences regarding the latrine utilization among community-led total sanitation and hygiene implemented and non-implemented districts of the East Wollega Zone. Hence, this study aimed to determine the magnitude and associated factors of latrine utilization among households in community-led total sanitation and hygiene implemented and non-implemented Districts in East Wollega Zone, Western Ethiopia. METHODS: A cross-sectional study was conducted. A Multi-stage sampling technique was applied to select the 461 households. Data were collected using interviews and observations guided by a pre-structured questionnaire. Data were entered using Epi Data and exported to SPSS software version 25 for data recording, cleaning, and statistical analysis. Bivariable logistic regression was run to identify the candidate variables at p-value <0.25. Variables that had associations with latrine utilization in the bi-variable analysis were entered together into multivariable logistic regression. An Adjusted odds ratio with a 95% confidence interval was calculated and P-value< 0.05 was used to declare a statistically significant association. RESULT: The overall prevalence of latrine utilization was found to be 52.7% (95%CI:48%, 57.3%). Religion (AOR = 0.149;95%CI:0.044,0.506), education (AOR = 3.861;95%CI:1.642,9.077), occupation, absence of children <5 years (AOR = 4.724;95%CI:2.313,9.648), toilet cleaning (AOR = 10.662;95%CI:5.571,20.403), frequency of latrine construction (AOR = 6.441;95%CI:2.203,18.826), maintenance need (AOR = 6.446; 95%CI:3.023,13.744), distance from health institution (AOR = 0.987; 95%CI:0.978, 0.996), distance from kebele office (AOR = 6.478; 95%CI:2.137,19.635), and latrine distance from dwelling (AOR = 11.656; 95%CI:2.108, 64.44) were the factors associated with latrine use. CONCLUSION: The latrine utilization in this study is low as compared to other studies. Religion, education, occupation, absence of children <5 years, toilet cleaning, frequency of latrine construction, maintenance need of the toilet, distance from health institution, distance from kebele, and latrine distance from dwelling are the associated factors of latrine utilization. Both households and health workers have to work together to improve latrine utilization and the safe disposal of children's feces.

Assessment of Blood Donation Practice and Its Associated Factors Among Wollega University Undergraduate Students, Ethiopia.

Introduction: Blood donation is the process of collecting blood from donors who are at low risk for infection and unlikely to jeopardize their own health. Blood donation addresses maternal and child mortality and contributes to saving millions of lives. But many African countries including Ethiopia are far below the minimum blood collection rate. Furthermore, the blood donation practice is not well studied among young university students in the study area. Hence, this study was done to assess the blood donation practice and associated factors among Wollega University students, Ethiopia. Methods: A cross-sectional study was conducted among 387 students of Wollega University. The students were selected by systematic random sampling. Self-administered questionnaire was used to collect the data. The data were entered into Epidata V.3.1 and exported to SPSSV.25 for analysis. Both bivariate and multivariate logistic regressions were used to identify the associated factors. Adjusted odds ratio with 95% confidence interval and P-value <0.05 were used to declare the statistically significant associations in the multivariable regression. The analyzed result was presented using tables, graphs, and text. Results: Of the 360 respondents, 147 (40.8%; 95% CI: 35.7-46.1%) ever donated blood. Blood donation practice was significantly associated with college of the students (AOR = 3.247; 95% CI: 1.348-7.820), not taking part in blood donation campaigns (AOR = 0.285; 95% CI: 0.161-0.503), knowledge of blood bank location (AOR = 5.297; 95% CI: 3.081-9.110), knowledge about blood donation (AOR = 2.035; 95% CI: 1.123-3.686) and attitude toward blood donation (AOR = 2.266; 95% CI: 1.122-4.577). Conclusion: The magnitude of blood donation in this study was found to be less than the recommended level by the World Health Organization. Absence of the blood donation campaigns, college of study, lack of knowledge, and poor attitude toward blood donation were the factors that influence the blood donation practice. All health and related institutions including the Wollega University must work in coordination to improve the blood donation practice focusing on the regular voluntary blood donors.

Predictors, causes, and trends of neonatal mortality at Nekemte Referral Hospital, east Wollega Zone, western Ethiopia (2010-2014). Retrospective cohort study.

BACKGROUND: Neonatal mortality is a significant contributor to infant mortality. Causes and predictors of neonatal death are known to vary in different settings and across different contexts. This study aimed to assess predictors, causes, and trends of neonatal mortality amongst neonates admitted to Nekemte Referral Hospital neonatal unit between 2010-2014. METHODS: Retrospective data was collected for 2090 live born neonates admitted to the neonatal intensive care unit of Nekemte Referral Hospital by reviewing records between 2010 to 2014. Variables were collected from the neonatal registration book and patient card on the predictors, causes, and trends of neonatal death using a standard checklist developed by the World Health Organization (WHO). Data was analyzed using Epi info version 3.5.1, and SPSS version 25 for windows. The level of significance was set at P<0.05 with the corresponding confidence intervals at 95%. A logistic regression model was used for analysis and to control for confounders. Microsoft Excel 2007 was used to construct the trend analysis. RESULTS: There were 183 deaths in the cohort equivalent to 8.8% of deaths among total admitted neonates during the study period. Early neonatal deaths accounted for 8% and late neonatal deaths accounted for 0.71% of deaths among total admitted neonates. Main predictors identified for an increased risk of neonatal mortality were; neonates from rural residents [AOR 1.35, (95% CI, 1.35-1.87)], birth order of greater than five [AOR 5.10, (95% CI, 1.15-22.63)], home delivery [AOR 3.41, (95% CI, 2.24-5.19)], very low birth weight [AOR 6.75, (95% CI, 3.63-12.54)] and low birth weight [AOR 2.81, (95% CI, 1.95-4.05)] and inability to cry at birth [AOR 2.21, (95% CI, 1.51-3.22)]. The trend analysis showed a sharp fall for the neonatal mortality over the last five years with a mean reduction of 16%. CONCLUSIONS: Data from the Nekemte Referral Hospital Neonatal Intensive Care Unit analysis revealed majority of the deaths were occurred during early neonatal period. The main predictors of neonatal mortality identified from this study needs strengthening an appropriate public health intervention through addressing antenatal care, curbing home delivery.