Reproductive age mortality survey (RAMOS) in Accra, Ghana.

BACKGROUND: Maternal mortality remains a severe problem in many parts of the world, despite efforts to reach MDG 5. In addition, underreporting is an issue especially in low income countries. Our objective has been to identify the magnitude of maternal deaths and the degree of underreporting of these deaths in Accra Metropolis in Ghana during a one year period. METHODS: A Reproductive Age Mortality survey (RAMOS) was carried out in the Accra Metropolis for the period 1st January 2002-31st December 2002. We reviewed records of female deaths aged 10-50 years in the Metropolis for the whole year 2002 using multiple sources. Maternal deaths identified through the review were compared with the officially reported maternal deaths for the same period. RESULTS: At the end of the study, a total of 179 maternal deaths out of 9,248 female deaths between the ages of 10-50 years were identified. One hundred and one (N = 101) of these were reported, giving an underreporting rate of 44%. The 179 cases consisted of 146 (81.6%) direct maternal deaths and 32 (17.9%) indirect maternal deaths and 1 (0.6%) non maternal death. The most frequent causes of direct maternal deaths were obstetric haemorrhage (57; 32%), pregnancies with abortive outcome (37; 20.8%), (pre) eclampsia (26; 14.6%) and puerperal sepsis (13; 7.3%). The most frequent indirect cause was sickle cell crisis in pregnancy (13; 7.3%). CONCLUSION: A Reproductive Age Mortality Survey is an effective method that could be used to update data on maternal mortality in Ghana while efforts are made to improve on maternal death audits in the health facilities. Strengthening the existing community based volunteers to report deaths that take place at home and the civil registration systems of births and deaths is also highly recommended.

Quality of life, optimism/pessimism, and knowledge and attitudes toward HIV Screening among pregnant women in Ghana.

OBJECTIVE: We sought to explore optimism/pessimism, knowledge of HIV, and attitudes toward HIV screening and treatment among Ghanaian pregnant women. METHOD: Pregnant women in Accra, Ghana, completed a self-administered questionnaire including the Life Orientation Test-Revised (LOT-R, an optimism/pessimism measure), an HIV knowledge and screening attitudes questionnaire, the Short Form 12 (SF-12, a measure of health-related quality of life [HRQOL]), and a demographic questionnaire. Data were analyzed using t-tests, ANOVA, correlations, and the chi2 test. RESULTS: There were 101 participants; 28% were nulliparous. Mean age was 29.7 years, and mean week of gestation was 31.8. All women had heard of AIDS, 27.7% had been tested for HIV before this pregnancy, 46.5% had been tested during this pregnancy, and 59.4% of the sample had ever been tested for HIV. Of those not tested during this pregnancy, 64.2% were willing to be tested. Of all respondents, 89% said they would get tested if antiretroviral drugs (ARVs) were readily available and might prevent maternal-to-child transmission. Neither optimism/pessimism nor HRQOL was associated with attitudes toward HIV screening. Optimism was negatively correlated with HIV knowledge (p = .001) and was positively correlated with having never been tested before this pregnancy (p = .007). CONCLUSION: The relationship between optimism/pessimism and HIV knowledge and screening behavior is worthy of further study using larger samples and objective measures of testing beyond self-report.

Maternal mortality in the Greater Accra region in Ghana: assessing completeness of registration and data quality.

OBJECTIVE: To assess the completeness of registration of maternal mortality by comparing various data sources and to review the quality of information pertaining to individual cases. DATA SOURCE AND METHODS: Female deaths aged 10-50 years in the Greater Accra region in Ghana from January 1, 2000 to December 31, 2000 were recorded. Identified maternal deaths (International Classification of Diseases, 9th revision) in four major hospitals in the region were compared with those registered in the civil registers. RESULTS: During the study period, 148 maternal deaths were identified and a total of 21,183 live births were recorded in the study hospitals, yielding a maternal mortality ratio of 699/105 live births. This ratio is more than six times the officially reported maternal mortality ratio for the whole region in the same period. Ninety-two percent of the deaths were due to direct obstetric causes and 8% to indirect causes. One hundred and twenty-one of the cases were correctly classified and registered. By using the multiple source approach, 27 new cases were identified, an under-registration of 18%. The sources of error were misclassification (n=25) and error in registration (n=2). CONCLUSION: The process of registration of deaths in this region is incomplete. Enhanced registration systems (including routine linkage of death and birth certificates) on a regular basis could be used in Ghana.