Prevalence of teenage pregnancy and associated factors among preparatory and high school students in Wolaita Sodo town, southern Ethiopia: an institution-based cross-sectional study.

OBJECTIVE: To assess the prevalence of teenage pregnancy and associated factors among teenage schoolgirls aged 15-19 years in Wolaita Sodo town, southern Ethiopia. DESIGN: Cross-sectional survey. SETTING: This study was conducted among teenage girls from preparatory and high schools in Wolaita Sodo town, southern Ethiopia, between 1 April and 30 May 2019. PARTICIPANTS: 588 (97.8%) of 601 randomly selected teenage schoolgirls aged 15-19 years (selected via a multistage random sampling technique) participated in the study. OUTCOME MEASURES: Teenage pregnancy and associated factors. RESULTS: The prevalence of teenage pregnancy among schoolgirls in Wolaita Sodo town was 14.6% (95% CI 11.9% to 17.7%). The current pregnancy rate was 33.7% (95% CI 23.9% to 44.7%). Having a family history of teenage pregnancy (AOR 3.3; 95% CI 1.3 to 8.4) and access to mass media (AOR 2.5; 95% CI 1.1 to 6.2) were positively associated with teenage pregnancy, while condom use (AOR 0.1; 95% CI 0.03 to 0.5) and knowledge of where to get modern contraceptives (AOR 0.4; 95% CI 0.2 to 0.9) were negatively associated. CONCLUSIONS: The prevalence of teenage pregnancy among schoolgirls in Wolaita Sodo was high. Having a family history of teenage pregnancy and access to mass media were positively associated with teenage pregnancy, whereas reported condom use and knowledge of where to get modern contraceptives were negatively associated with teenage pregnancy among schoolgirls.

Dietary patterns and their association with cardiovascular risk factors in Ethiopia: A community-based cross-sectional study.

Purpose: To identify the dietary patterns and their association with cardiovascular risk factors among adult people in urban and rural areas of Wolaita, southern Ethiopia. Methods: A total of 2,483 participants aged 25-64 years were selected using a three-stage random sampling. Data for this study were collected using structured questionnaires, the previous 24-h dietary intake assessment, anthropometric, blood pressure, and biochemical measurements. We used factor analysis to identify dietary patterns. Factors associated with dietary patterns were analyzed using multiple linear regression models. The adjusted regression coefficients with their 95% CI were used to ascertain the association. Result: We identified three major dietary patterns that explained 51% of the variance in food consumption. The western dietary pattern was characterized by the consumption of meat/organ meat, biscuits/sweets, chicken stew, pasta-macaroni recipes, butter, white wheat bread, egg recipe, and Ethiopian dish shiro-wet, and was positively associated with urban residence, obesity, hypertension, blood glucose, and total cholesterol levels. Adherence to the consumption of tubers, whole-grain maize products, coffee leaves-and-herbs beverage, legumes, and sweet potatoes featured the traditional dietary pattern. The traditional dietary pattern showed a positive relationship with rural residence, physical activity, and obesity, and it had a negative relationship with hypertension. The healthy dietary pattern was characterized by the intake of green leafy vegetables, green pepper, and whole-grain maize products, and negatively related to obesity, and hypertension, while positively related to urban residence. Conclusion: The coexistence of western, traditional, and healthy dietary patterns in the present study indicates the transition to a new dietary pattern in the study area. All dietary patterns were associated with one or more cardiovascular risk factors, but the western dietary pattern was associated with most of these, while the traditional diet showed fewer such associations. Therefore, it might be useful to promote healthy and traditional dietary patterns along with physical activity. Interventions related to the current findings, if initiated early in life, may benefit the public in preventing cardiovascular risk factors such as obesity, hypertension, and type 2-diabetes.

Modifiable cardiovascular disease risk factors among adults in southern Ethiopia: a community-based cross-sectional study.

OBJECTIVE: To assess the prevalence, magnitude and factors associated with the number of major modifiable cardiovascular disease (CVD) risk factors. DESIGN: Community-based cross-sectional study. SETTING: General population in urban and rural Wolaita, southern Ethiopia. PARTICIPANTS: A total of 2483 adults aged 25-64 years were selected using the three-stage random sampling. OUTCOME MEASURES: Prevalence of major modifiable CVD risk factors, co-occurrences and the number of modifiable CVD risk factors. RESULTS: The major modifiable CVD risk factors documented in the Wolaita area were smoking with a weighted prevalence of 0.8%, hypercholesterolaemia 5.0%, hypertriglyceridaemia 15.5%, low high-density lipoprotein cholesterol (HDL-C) 31.3%, high systolic blood pressure 22.2%, high diastolic blood pressure 22.4%, physical inactivity 44.1%, obesity 2.8% and hyperglycaemia 3.7%. The numbers of participants having ≥1, ≥2 and ≥3 major modifiable CVD risk factors in the study area were 2013, 1201 and 576 with a weighted prevalence of 75.8%, 42.3% and 19.4%, respectively. In general, there were 28 different combinations of major modifiable CVD risk factor co-occurrences. The combination of physical inactivity with low HDL-C was found in 19.7% of the study participants, followed by physical inactivity with hypertension of 17.8%. Urban residence, male gender, sugar-sweetened food consumption and older age had a positive association with the number of major modifiable CVD risk factors, while being a farmer had a negative association. CONCLUSIONS: The prevalence and magnitude of major modifiable CVD risk factors in the study area were high. The components of the most prevalent combinations of major modifiable CVD risk factors should be targeted. Therefore, public health measures against major modifiable CVD risk factors such as promotion of physical exercise and reduction of sugar-sweetened food consumption have to be taken, targeting the vulnerable groups such as urban residents and older age.

Prevalence of hypertension, and related factors among adults in Wolaita, southern Ethiopia: A community-based cross-sectional study.

INTRODUCTION: Hypertension is a global public health challenge. There is a lack of evidence on the prevalence of hypertension, prehypertension, and related factors among adult populations of Wolaita, southern Ethiopia. AIM: To assess the prevalence of hypertension, prehypertension, and related factors among adult populations of Wolaita, southern Ethiopia. METHODS: A community-based cross-sectional study was conducted on 2483 adult residents, selected using a two-stage random sampling technique. The quantitative data collected from structured questionnaires; anthropometric and biochemical measurements were entered into EpiData version 3.1 using double-entry systems. We determined the weighted prevalence of hypertension and pre-hypertension for the two-stage survey. The multivariate logistic regression analysis was used to assess factors associated with hypertension and carried out after declaring the data set as survey data to account for the effect of clustering. An adjusted coefficient with 95% CI was used to ascertain the significance of the association. RESULTS: The weighted prevalence of hypertension and prehypertension in the Wolaita area was 31.3% (27.7%-35.1%) and 46.4% (42.9%-50.0%) respectively. The weighted prevalence of hypertension of those who were not aware of their hypertension until the time of the survey was 29.8%% (26.5%-33.3%). Where the weighted prevalence of self-reported cases of hypertension was 2.2% (1.2%-3.8%). Obesity, sugar-sweetened food consumption, male sex, elevated total cholesterol, raised fasting blood sugar, and advancing age were positively associated with hypertension. CONCLUSION: The prevalence of hypertension among adults in Wolaita was high. A small proportion of the affected people are aware of their high blood pressure. This study reported a high prevalence of pre-hypertension; which indicates a high percentage of people at risk of hypertension. It is essential to develop periodic screening programs, and primary intervention strategies such as the prevention of obesity, and reduction of sugar-sweetened food consumption.

Knowledge, Attitude and Practice Towards Cervical Cancer Screening Among Women and Associated Factors in Hospitals of Wolaita Zone, Southern Ethiopia.

BACKGROUND: Cervical cancer is a worldwide public health concern, and approximately 85% of deaths occurs in developing countries. Thus study is designed to assess knowledge, attitude, and practice towards cervical cancer screening in Wolaita Zone, Southern Ethiopia. METHODS: We conducted a facility-based cross-sectional study. In this research, we used a multi-stage sampling procedure to select 520 participants. Information on socio-demographics, knowledge, attitude, and cervical cancer screening related questionnaires were collected using face-to-face interviews. Data were entered and cleaned in Epi-Data version 3.1 and exported to SPSS version 20 for analysis. For the analysis, we used logistic regression along with odds ratios and 95% confidence intervals. The statistical significance was determined by p <0.05. RESULTS: Approximately 154 (43.1%) of women had good knowledge, 235 (45.5%) had a favorable attitude, and nearly a quarter (118; 22.9%) had been screened for cervical cancer. Women 30-34 years [AOR=3.02, 95% CI: 1.11, 8.24), women with degree/diploma level of education [AOR=7.3, 95% CI 2.53-21.01), and having sourced information from a health professional [AOR=2.3, 95% CI: 1.27-4.17) were associated with good knowledge of cervical cancer screening. Being single [AOR=3.47, 95% CI: 1.03-11.75] and good knowledge of cervical cancer [AOR=4.76, 95%:2.65-8.57) were significant predictors of a positive attitude towards cervical cancer screening. Women who knew cervical cancer patients[AOR=2.47, 95% (1.37-4.44)] and high monthly income [AOR=3.8, 95% CI: 1.86-7.77] were associated with good practice related to cervical cancer screening. CONCLUSION: Knowledge, attitude, and practice towards cervical cancer screening were shallow. The concerned body should aggressively disseminate information on cervical cancer screening, improve the economic status of women, and provide counseling about cervical cancer during health care delivery visits.

Factors Affecting the Presence of Adequately Iodized Salt at Home in Wolaita, Southern Ethiopia: Community Based Study.

BACKGROUND: Universal use of iodized salt is a simple and inexpensive method to prevent and eliminate iodine deficiency disorders like mental retardation. However, little is known about the level of adequately iodized salt consumption in the study area. Therefore, the study was aimed at assessing the proportion of households having adequately iodized salt and associated factors in Wolaita Sodo town and its peripheries, Southern Ethiopia. METHODS: A cross-sectional study was conducted from May 10 to 20, 2016, in 441 households in Sodo town and its peripheries. Samples were selected using the systematic sampling technique. An iodometric titration method (AOAC, 2000) was used to analyze the iodine content of the salt samples. Data entry and analysis were done using Epi Info version 3.5.1 and SPSS version 16, respectively. RESULT: The female to male ratio of the respondents was 219. The mean age of the respondents was 30.2 (±7.3 SD). The proportion of households having adequately iodized salt was 37.7%, with 95% CI of 33.2% to 42.2%. Not exposing salt to sunlight with [OR: 3.75; 95% CI: 2.14, 6.57], higher monthly income [OR: 3.71; 95% CI: 1.97-7.01], and formal education of respondents with [OR: 1.75; 95% CI: 1.14, 2.70] were found associated with the presence of adequately iodized salt at home. CONCLUSION: This study revealed low levels of households having adequately iodized salt in Wolaita Sodo town and its peripheries. The evidence here shows that there is a need to increase the supply of adequately iodized salt to meet the goal for monitoring progress towards sustainable elimination of IDD.