Efficacy of mobile phone intervention to increase male partner antenatal care attendance for HIV testing in Moshi municipal, Tanzania: a randomized controlled trial.

BACKGROUND: HIV partner counselling and testing in antenatal care (ANC) is a crucial strategy to raise the number of males who know their HIV status. However, in many settings like Tanzania, male involvement in antenatal care remains low, and there is a definite need for innovative strategies to increase male partner involvement. This study was designed to evaluate the efficacy of mobile phone intervention increase male partner ANC attendance for HIV testing in Moshi municipal, Tanzania. METHODS: Between April and July 2022, we enrolled pregnant women presenting to a first ANC visit at Majengo and St. Joseph reproductive health facilities without their male partners. Eligible pregnant women were randomly assigned to invitation of their male partners either via phone calls, text messages from clinic staff and verbal invites from pregnant partners (intervention arm) or verbal invites only from the pregnant partners (control arm). Neither healthcare provider nor participant were blinded. The primary outcome was the proportion of male partners who attended ANC with their pregnant partners during a follow-up period of two consecutive visits. The secondary outcome measure was HIV testing among male partners following the invitation. Participants were analyzed as originally assigned (intention to treat). RESULTS: A total of 350 pregnant women presenting to ANC for the first time were enrolled, with 175 women enrolled in each arm. The efficacy of male attendance with their pregnant women following the invitations was 83.4% (147/175) in the intervention arm and 46.3% (81/175) in the control arm. Overall, the results suggest a positive and statistically significant average treatment effect among men who received mobile phone intervention on ANC attendance. For the secondary outcome, the percent of male partners who accepted HIV counselling and testing was 99.3% (146/147) in the intervention arm and 93.8% (76/81) in the control arm. Married men were having higher odds of ANC attendance compared with single men (aOR:6.40(3.26-12.56), Males with multigravida women were having lower odds of ANC attendance compared with primigravida women (aOR:0.17(0.09-0.33). CONCLUSION: The study demonstrates that supplementing verbal invitations with mobile phone calls and text messages from clinic staff can significantly increase male partner ANC attendance and HIV testing. This combined approach is recommended in improving ANC attendance and HIV testing of male partners who do not accompany their pregnant partners to antenatal clinics in the first visits. TRIAL REGISTRATION: PACTR202209769991162.

Prevalence and factors associated with early postnatal care utilization among women of reproductive age in Tanzania: analysis of Tanzania demographic health survey 2015/16.

Introduction: postnatal care (PNC) is critical for the health and survival of the mother and the newborn. The timing of the first postnatal checkup is crucial for the early identification and treatment of complications. Late or zero attendance of postnatal checkups negatively influences the health of the mother and the newborn. The study's purpose is to determine the prevalence and factors associated with early postnatal care utilization among women of reproductive age (WRA) in Tanzania. Methods: this is an analytical cross-sectional study, using Tanzania demographic health survey data for 2015/16. Women of reproductive age (15-49 years) who gave birth 5 years prior the survey were analyzed. Data analysis was performed using Stata software Version 15. The Poisson regression analysis was used to assess factors associated with early PNC. Results: the prevalence of early PNC utilization in Tanzania was 36%. The identified determinants for early PNC were geographical zone, place of residence, access to media, place of delivery and mode of delivery. The prevalence of early PNC was higher among mothers with access to media, with caesarian delivery and to those with facility delivery. The prevalence was low among mothers who lived in rural areas, from southwest and lake zones. Conclusion: the coverage of early PNC was found to be low in Tanzania. Interventions informed by the identified factors need to be designed and implemented to improve the coverage of early PNC.

Prostate cancer knowledge and barriers to screening among men at risk in northern Tanzania: A community-based study.

BACKGROUND: Although prostate cancer (Pca) screening plays important role in early diagnosis and reduction of mortality, Tanzanian men are relatively unscreened. We aimed to investigate Pca knowledge level and barriers to screening among at-risk men in northern Tanzania. METHODS: This community-based survey was conducted in northern Tanzania from May to September 2022, involving men age ≥40 years. Participants were invited by announcing in local churches, mosques, brochures, and social media groups. Participants attended a nearby health facility where survey questionnaires were administered. Knowledge level was measured on the Likert scale and scored as poor (<50 %) or good (≥50 %). RESULTS: A total of 6205 men with a mean age of 60.23 ± 10.98 years were enrolled in the study. Of these, 586 (9.5 %) had ever been screened for Pca. Overall, 1263 men (20.4 %) had good knowledge of Pca. Having health insurance, knowing at least 1 risk factor or symptoms of Pca, and hospital as the source of Pca information were significantly associated with ever being screened. The most common reasons for not being screened were a belief that they are healthy (n = 2983; 53.1 %), that Pca is not a serious disease (n = 3908; 69.6 %), and that digital rectal examination (DRE) as an embarrassing (n = 3634; 64.7 %) or harmful (n = 3047; 54.3 %) procedure. CONCLUSION: Having Pca knowledge, health insurance and hospital source of information were correlated with increased screening. False beliefs about DRE and the seriousness of Pca had negative effects on screening. Increasing community knowledge and universal health coverage would improve uptake of Pca screening.

Recurrence of post-term pregnancy and associated factors among women who delivered at Kilimanjaro Christian Medical Centre in northern Tanzania: A retrospective cohort study.

BACKGROUND: Post-term pregnancy is a health problem of clinical importance and; tends to recur in subsequent pregnancies. Maternal age, height, and male fetal sex are risk factors associated with Post-term pregnancy. The study aimed to determine the recurrence risk of post-term pregnancy and associated factors among women delivered at KCMC referral hospital. METHODOLOGY: This retrospective cohort study used KCMC zonal referral hospital medical birth registry cohort data for 43472 women delivered between 2000 and 2018. Data were analyzed using STATA version 15 software. Log-binomial regression with robust variance estimator determined the factors associated recurrence of post-term pregnancy adjusted for other factors. RESULTS: A total of 43472 women were analyzed. The proportion of post-term pregnancy was 11.4%, and the recurrence was 14.8%. The recurrence risk of post-term pregnancy was increased when a woman had a history of previous post-term pregnancy (aRR: 1.75; 95%CI: 1.44, 2.11). Advanced maternal age, i.e., ≥35years (aRR: 0.80; 95%CI: 0.65, 0.99), having secondary and higher education (aRR: 0.8; 95%CI: 0.66, 0.97), and being employed (aRR: 0.68; 95%CI: 0.55, 0.84) decreased the recurrence risk of post-term pregnancy. Women with recurrence of post-term pregnancy had a higher risk of delivering newborns weighed ≥4000gm (aRR: 5.05; 95% CI: 2.80, 9.09). CONCLUSION: Post-term pregnancy is associated with recurrence risk in subsequent pregnancies. A history of previous post-term pregnancy is associated risk factor and these women are at increased risk of delivering newborns weighed ≥4000gm. Clinical counselling of women at risk of post-term pregnancy and timely management is recommended to prevent adverse neonatal and maternal outcomes.

Validation of the Pediatric Resuscitation and Trauma Outcome (PRESTO) model in injury patients in Tanzania.

INTRODUCTION: Sub-Saharan Africa has the highest rate of unintentional paediatric injury deaths. The Pediatric Resuscitation and Trauma Outcome (PRESTO) model predicts mortality using patient variables available in low-resource settings: age, systolic blood pressure (SBP), heart rate (HR), oxygen saturation, need for supplemental oxygen (SO) and neurologic status (Alert Verbal Painful Unresponsive (AVPU)). We sought to validate and assess the prognostic performance of PRESTO for paediatric injury patients at a tertiary referral hospital in Northern Tanzania. METHODS: This is a cross-sectional study from a prospective trauma registry from November 2020 to April 2022. We performed exploratory analysis of sociodemographic variables and developed a logistic regression model to predict mortality using R (V.4.1). The logistic regression model was evaluated using area under the receiver operating curve (AUC). RESULTS: 499 patients were enrolled with a median age of 7 years (IQR 3.41-11.18). 65% were boys, and in-hospital mortality was 7.1%. Most were classified as alert on AVPU Scale (n=326, 86%) and had normal SBP (n=351, 98%). Median HR was 107 (IQR 88.5-124). The logistic regression model based on the original PRESTO model revealed that AVPU, HR and SO were statistically significant to predict in-hospital mortality. The model fit to our population revealed AUC=0.81, sensitivity=0.71 and specificity=0.79. CONCLUSION: This is the first validation of a model to predict mortality for paediatric injury patients in Tanzania. Despite the low number of participants, our results show good predictive potential. Further research with a larger injury population should be done to improve the model for our population, such as through calibration.