Determinants of low Apgar score among newborns delivered by Cesarean section in Nigist Eleni Mohammed memorial specialized hospital, Southern Ethiopia.

A variety of factors can predispose newborns to have a low Apgar score after delivery. Identification of the determinants of low Apgar scores is an important first step to take to apply the necessary precautions. This study aimed to identify the determinants of low fifth-minute Apgar score after a Cesarean section. An institutional-based case-control study was conducted among mothers who deliver their newborns by Cesarean section in Nigist Eleni Mohammed Memorial Comprehensive Specialized Hospital, Ethiopia, from July 1, 2022, to September 30, 2022. Data were collected from 70 cases and 140 controls using a semi-structured checklist. A systematic random sampling technique was used to select both charts of mothers with cases and controls. Charts of mothers with newborns Apgar score less than 7 were considered as cases; whereas a similar group of charts of mothers with newborns with fifth-minute Apgar score greater than or equal to 7 were categorized as control. Descriptive statistics and bivariable and multivariable binary logistic regression analyses were conducted to describe the mothers and newborns and identify determinants of the fifth-minute low Apgar score, respectively. Adjusted odds ratios (AOR) with their respective 95% confidence interval (CI) were used to declare the determinant factors, and the statistical significance was set at P < 0.05. In total, 140 controls and 70 cases of mothers charts were enrolled in this study. The Mean ± SD age of mothers of cases and controls were 26.9 ± 4.9 and 27.06 ± 4.1 years, respectively. General anaesthesia (AOR = 4.2; 95% CI: 1.9 ‒ 9.3), rural residence (AOR = 3.7, 95% CI, 1.7‒8.1), low birth weight (AOR = 3.2, 95% CI, 1.3‒7.8), and emergency Cesarean section (AOR = 2.6; 95% CI: 1.2 ‒ 5.8) were identified determinant factors of low fifth minute Apgar score. A fifth-minute low Apgar score was significantly associated with newborns delivered through emergency Cesarean section, low birth weight, rural residence, and delivered from mothers who had undergone Cesarean section under general anaesthesia.

Household food insecurity and coping strategies among rural households in Kedida Gamela District, Kembata-Tembaro zone, Southern Ethiopia: mixed-methods concurrent triangulation design.

BACKGROUND: Household food insecurity is a state in which household members experienced limited or uncertain physical and economic access to safe, plenty, and healthy food to meet the dietary needs for a fruitful, healthy, and active life. Food insecurity continues to be a major development and public health problem across the globe, having adverse consequences. This study was done to assess household food insecurity and to explore coping strategies in Kedida Gamela District, Southern Ethiopia. METHOD: A cross-sectional study complemented with the qualitative inquiry was carried-out from August to November 2020. Multistage sampling was used to select study subjects. A total sample of 597 households was selected randomly using up to date family folder list in the district as a sampling frame. For the qualitative study, 16 food-insecure households were selected randomly from food in secured households. Quantitative data were entered using Ep-Data 3.1 and exported to SPSS 20 for analysis. Bivariate analysis was carried out to see the crude association between each independent variable and outcome variable. P-value < 0.05 and 95%CI for adjusted odds ratios (AOR) were used to declare the significance of the associations. The qualitative data were analyzed using thematic analysis. RESULT: The findings of this study showed that 76% of the households were food insecure. Being female-headed households [AOR: 2.82:CI(1.10, 7.24)], absence of formal education [(AOR: 9.75:CI (3.7, 11.31)], lack of engagement in non-farm farm activities [(AOR; 3.30: CI (1.86, 5.96)], absence of credit service [AOR:4.04; C I (2.11,7.73)], presence of dependent household members [AOR: 3.47;(2.91,6.34)], poorest wealth status [AOR;9.86:CI (3.72, 15.85)] were factors significantly associated with food insecurity of the households. Food insecure households employed different coping strategies with the respective level of food insecurity. CONCLUSION: The findings of this study indicated that household food insecurity was higher in the study area. Moreover, sex, educational status, wealth status of the households; engagement of households in off/non-farm farm activities, credit service, and active and inactive labor force were significantly associated with household food insecurity. Food insecure households practice different coping strategies with respective food insecurity levels from the less severe strategy of eating inedible, fewer-quality foods to the most severe of migrating and begging for food. Planning and exhaustively implementing sustainable food security programs should get due attention.

Youth friendly services utilization and associated factors among school youths in North Shewa Zone, Amhara Region, Ethiopia: A mixed-method study.

Objective: To assess youth friendly services utilization and associated factors among school youths in North Shewa zone, Ethiopia, 2020. Methods: Institution-based cross-sectional study complemented with qualitative inquiry was conducted from 25 February to 20 March 2020. Multistage and purposive sampling technique was used. A total of 605 randomly selected students were recruited. Seven in-depth interviews and four focus group discussions were conducted for qualitative study. p-value < 0.05 and adjusted odds ratio with 95% confidence interval were computed to measure the strength of associations between variables. Qualitative data were transcribed verbatim, analyzed manually, and presented in narration. Result: One hundred ninety-five (32.7%, 95% confidence interval: 29.0%, 36.6%) respondents had used youth friendly services during the survey. Educational level of father (can read and write) (adjusted odds ratio = 3.12, 95% confidence interval: (1.47, 6.65)), being knowledgeable about reproductive health issues (adjusted odds ratio = 4.84, 95% confidence interval: (2.77, 8.47)), discussion on reproductive health issues (adjusted odds ratio = 2.50, 95% confidence interval: (1.49, 4.19)), having sexual exposure (adjusted odds ratio = 3.37, 95% confidence interval: (1.54, 7.39)), perceiving oneself as risky for acquiring HIV/AIDS (adjusted odds ratio = 4.49, 95% confidence interval: (2.63,7.65)), history of sexually transmitted infections (adjusted odds ratio = 4.40, 95% confidence interval: (1.61, 12.04)), favorable attitude toward service providers (adjusted odds ratio = 2.20, 95% confidence interval: (1.16, 4.17)), and ever supported to use the services (adjusted odds ratio = 4.18, 95% confidence interval: (2.51, 6.97)) were factors associated with youth friendly services utilization. Conclusion: Compared with previous findings, youth friendly services utilization in the study area was relatively low. Knowledge on reproductive health issues, sexual exposure, perceiving as risky of acquiring HIV, history of sexually transmitted infection, ever supported to use the services, and attitude of youth toward youth friendly service providers were among factors associated with youth friendly services utilization. Health facilities and schools should work coordinately to scale up youth friendly services utilization.

Magnitude of Antenatal Depression and Associated Factors among Pregnant Women in West Badewacho Woreda, Hadiyya Zone, South Ethiopia: Community Based Cross Sectional Study.

BACKGROUND: Antenatal depression is prevalent and serious problems that is associated with psychosocial factors, obstetric history, and history of psychiatric illness. Evidence on prevalence and factors associated with antenatal depression at community level is limited in Ethiopia. The aim of this study was assessing the prevalence of antenatal depression and associated factors among pregnant women in West Badewacho Woreda, Hadiyya Zone, South Ethiopia, 2018. METHODS: A community based cross sectional study was conducted from March 15 to April 12, 2018. To draw a total sample size of 541 pregnant women, multistage sampling technique was used. Pretested semi-structured questionnaire and standardized scale was used to collect data from each study subject. Data were entered and cleaned using Epi-Data version 3.1 and exported to SPSS version 23 for analysis. Bivariate analysis was carried out to see crude association between each independent variable and outcome variable. Odds ratios at 95%CI were computed to measure the strength of the association between the outcome and the independent variables. P-value < 0.05 was considered as statistically significant in multivariate analysis. RESULTS: The prevalence of antenatal depression in the study population was 23.3% (CI: 19.8-26.8). Factors significantly associated with antenatal depression were marital status other than married (single, widowed, divorced) [AOR: (2.807; 95%CI: (1.268, 6.227); p-value = 0.042], history of previous depression [AOR: 3.414; 95%CI: (1.154, 12.999); p-value = 0.001] family history of mental illness [AOR: 3.874; 95%CI: (1.653, 7.052); p-value = 0.028], recent violence from intimate partner [AOR: 3.223; 95%CI: (1.359, 7.643); p-value = 0.008], unsatisfactory marital relation [AOR: 7.568; 95%CI: (3.943, 14.523); p-value < 0.001], lack of adequate social support [AOR: 5.491; 95%CI: (2.086, 14.451); p-value < 0.001] and unplanned current pregnancy [AOR: 2.013; 95%CI: (1.025, 3.953); p-value = 0.042]. CONCLUSION: The prevalence of antenatal depression in west Badewacho woreda was high and it is associated with marital status, unplanned current pregnancy, history of previous depression, family history of mental illness, recent violence from intimate partner, poor marital satisfaction level, and poor social support. Improving maternal and child health services and introducing screening for depression as part of routine antenatal assessment to curb antenatal depression should get due attention.

Determinants of preterm birth among mothers who gave birth in East Africa: systematic review and meta-analysis.

BACKGROUND: Preterm birth (PTB) can be caused by different factors. The factors can be classified into different categories: socio demographic, obstetric, reproductive health, medical, behavioral and nutritional related. The objective of this review was identifying determinants of PTB among mothers who gave birth in East African countries. METHODS: We have searched the following electronic bibliographic databases: PubMed, Google scholar, Cochrane library, AJOL (African journal online). Cross sectional, case control and cohort study published in English were included. There was no restriction on publication period. Studies with no abstracts and or full texts, editorials, and qualitative in design were excluded. Funnel plot was used to check publication bias. I-squared statistic was used to check heterogeneity. Pooled analysis was done by using fixed and random effect model. The Joanna Briggs Critical Appraisal Tools for review and meta-analysis was used to check the study quality. RESULTS: A total of 58 studies with 134,801 participants were used to identify determinants of PTB. On pooled analysis, PTB was associated with age < 20 years (AOR 1.76, 95% CI: 1.33-2.32), birth interval less than 24 months (AOR 2.03, 95% CI 1.57-2.62), multiple pregnancy (AOR 3.44,95% CI: 3.02-3.91), < 4 antenatal care (ANC) visits (AOR 5.52, 95% CI: 4.32-7.05), and absence of ANC (AOR 5.77, 95% CI: 4.27-7.79). Other determinants of PTB included: Antepartum hemorrhage (APH) (AOR 4.90, 95% CI: 3.48-6.89), pregnancy induced hypertension (PIH) (AOR 3.10, 95% CI: 2.34-4.09), premature rupture of membrane (PROM) (AOR 5.90, 95% CI: 4.39-7.93), history of PTB (AOR 3.45, 95% CI: 2.72-4.38), and history of still birth/abortion (AOR 3.93, 95% CI: 2.70-5.70). Furthermore, Anemia (AOR 4.58, 95% CI: 2.63-7.96), HIV infection (AOR 2.59, 95% CI: 1.84-3.66), urinary tract infection (UTI) (AOR 5.27, 95% CI: 2.98-9.31), presence of vaginal discharge (AOR 5.33, 95% CI: 3.19-8.92), and malaria (AOR 3.08, 95% CI: 2.32-4.10) were significantly associated with PTB. CONCLUSIONS: There are many determinants of PTB in East Africa. This review could provide policy makers, clinicians, and program officers to design intervention on preventing occurrence of PTB.

The association between malaria and malnutrition among under-five children in Shashogo District, Southern Ethiopia: a case-control study.

BACKGROUND: Recent studies have presented conflicting findings about whether malaria is associated with an increased or decreased risk of malnutrition. Therefore, assessing the relationship between these two disastrous diseases in the most vulnerable groups, such as in children aged below 5 years (under-five children), may lead to the discovery of new low-cost and effective aides to current methods of malnutrition prevention in malaria-endemic areas. Therefore, this study was conducted to assess the relationship between malaria and malnutrition among under five children in an area with a high degree of malaria transmission. METHODS: The study involved comparing malnourished children aged 6-59 months and nourished children of the same age for their past exposure to malaria, in Shashogo District, Southern Ethiopia. A validated structured questionnaire was used to collect home to home socioeconomic data and anthropometric instruments for clinical data. The collected data were analysed using descriptive and inferential statistics by means of EpiData entry software and STATA data analysis software. RESULTS: A total of 356 (89 malnourished and 267 nourished) under-five children participated in the study. Previous exposure to Plasmodium infection was found to be a predictor for the manifestation of malnutrition in under-five children (P = 0.02 [OR = 1.87, CI = 1.115-3.138]). Children from a household with a monthly income of less than USD 15 were 4.5 more likely to be malnourished as compared to the other children (P = 0.001 [OR = 0.422, CI = 0.181-0.978]). CONCLUSION: This study found that exposure to Plasmodium has a significant impact on the nutritional status of children. In addition, socio-demographic factors, such as family income, may play a role in determining whether children are malnourished or not and may lead to increased morbidity due to malnourishment in children living in malaria-endemic areas. Therefore, malnutrition control interventions should be consolidated with malaria prevention strategies particularly in high malaria transmission areas.

Mortality and morbidity trends and predictors of mortality in under-five children with severe acute malnutrition in Hadiya zone, South Ethiopia: a four-year retrospective review of hospital-based records (2012-2015).

BACKGROUND: Severe acute malnutrition remains one of the most common causes of morbidity and mortality in Sub-Saharan Africa. The objective of this study was to investigate morbidity and mortality trends and factors associated with mortality of under-five children admitted and managed for severe acute malnutrition in NEMMH. METHODS: Four years retrospective cohort study was conducted on 500 under-five children admitted with the diagnosis of severe acute malnutrition. The study population was all under- five children admitted to the inpatient nutrition unit between 2012 and 2015. Data was entered using Epi-Data version 3.1 and exported to SPSS version 16 for analysis. A Kaplan- Meier curve was also used to estimate survival probability of different types of severe acute malnutrition. Cox proportional hazards regression was used to predict the risk of death among predictor while adjusting for other variables. A P-value less than 0.05 was considered as statistically significant. RESULT: A total of 500 children were enrolled into the study. Kwashiorkor was the most frequently recorded morbidity accounting for 43.0%. Pneumonia was seen the commonest form of comorbid disease. It was the most common co-morbidity across all morbidity groups. (27.6% in kwashiorkor, 37.5% in marasmus and 37.7% in marasmic-kwashiorkor). The average length of stay in the hospital was 11 days.Children with new admission were 86% less likely to die than repeated admission given that the children were admitted to paediatric ward (HR: 0.14, 95% CI: (0.06, 0.35). Kaplan Meier survival curves also showed children with marasmus and those with repeated admission had reduced survival rates. The overall mortality rate was 7%. The mortality trends vary irregularly in each year but morbidity trend increased with admission from 2014 to 2015. CONCLUSION: Mortality trends of SAM vary irregularly across the years but morbidity trends increased with admission from 2014 to 2015. An admission type was significantly associated with mortality. Morbidity and co-morbid diseases did not show significant effect on mortality of the children. Health extension workers and stakeholders should give due concern on promotion of proper nutrition in a community.

Prevalence of herbal medicine use and associated factors among pregnant women attending antenatal care at public health facilities in Hossana Town, Southern Ethiopia: facility based cross sectional study.

BACKGROUND: The use of herbal medicine has been on increase in many developing and industrialized countries. More pregnant women use herbal remedies to treat pregnancy related problems due to cost-effectiveness of therapy and easy access of these products. We sought to assess the prevalence of herbal medicine use and associated factors among pregnant women attending antenatal clinics of public health facilities. METHODS: Facility based cross sectional study was conducted among 363 pregnant women attending antenatal clinics from May to June 2015 at public health facilities in Hossana town, Hadiya zone, Southern Ethiopia. Pretested structured questionnaire was used to collect data from each study subject. Bivariate logistic regression analysis was used to see significance of association between the outcome and independent variables. Odds ratios at 95 % CI were computed to measure the strength of the association between the outcome and the independent variables. P-value <0.05 was considered as a statistically significant in multivariate analysis. RESULT: Two hundred fifty eight (73.1 %) of pregnant women used herbal medicine during current pregnancy . The herbal medicines commonly taken during current pregnancy were ginger (55.8 %), garlic (69.8 %), eucalyptus (11.6 %), tenaadam (rutachalenssis) (26.4 %), damakesse (ocimumlamiifolium) (22.8 %), feto (3.5 %) and omore (3.1 %). Being students (AOR: (5.68, 95 % CI: (1.53, 21.13), second trimester of pregnancy (AOR: 0.22, 95 % CI: (0.08, 0.76), sufficient knowledge on herbal medicine (AOR: 0.37, 95 % CI: (0.19, 0.79), no formal education (AOR: 4.41, 95 % CI: (1.11, 17.56), primary education (AOR: 4.15, 95 % CI: (1.51, 11.45) and secondary education (AOR: 2.55, 95 % CI: (1.08,6.03) were significantly associated with herbal medicine use. CONCLUSION: The findings of this study showed that herbal medicine use during pregnancy is a common experience. Commonly used herbal medicines during current pregnancy were garlic, ginger, tenaadam, damakasse and eucalyptus. Educational status, occupation, knowledge on herbal medicine and second trimester of pregnancy were the major factors affecting use of herbal medicine. Health education about the effects of herbal medicine on pregnancy should be given during antenatal care sessions and through media. Health care providers, especially those that are involved in antenatal care should aware of evidence regarding potential benefits or harm of herbal medicinal agents when used by pregnant women.