Effectiveness of a culturally tailored text messaging program for promoting cervical cancer screening in accra, Ghana: a quasi-experimental trial.

INTRODUCTION: Despite breakthroughs in cervical cancer detection, resource-constrained countries continue to have a disproportionately high incidence and death rate. Mhealth has been identified as an important tool for increasing cervical cancer screening rates in Sub-Saharan Africa. We determined whether sending Ghanaian women culturally tailored one-way mobile phone SMS text messages about cervical cancer would encourage the uptake of the human papillomavirus (HPV) test. METHODS: From August to November 2016, 88 women aged 18 to 39 living or working in an urban community (Accra, Ghana) participated in a quasi-experimental study. For 8 weeks, 32 SMS messages regarding cervical cancer were developed and sent to the personal phones of intervention arm participants (n = 42). Women in the control group (n = 46) received SMS texts with general health and lifestyle advice. Fischer's exact tests were performed to assess cervical cancer screening uptake and associated reasons for non-uptake between the intervention and control groups (p < 0.05). RESULTS: At the baseline, women differed in terms of ethnicity and wealth. After the intervention, participants' self-reported risk factors for cervical cancer, such as early menarche, usual source of medical treatment, family history of cancer, smoking, and alcohol history, changed. None of the women in the intervention group sought cervical cancer screening after the intervention, but only one (2.2%) of the control arm participants did. Almost all the women (> 95%) agreed that an HPV test was essential and that regular healthcare check-ups could help prevent cervical cancer. Some women believed that avoiding particular foods could help prevent cervical cancer (23.8% intervention vs. 58.7% control, p < 0.001). Time constraints and out-of-pocket expenses were significant barriers to cervical cancer screening. CONCLUSION: A one-way SMS delivered to urban women did not increase cervical cancer screening attendance. The time spent in screening facilities and the lack of coverage by the National Health Insurance Scheme limited screening uptake. We urge for the establishment of screening centers in all healthcare facilities, as well as the inclusion of cervical cancer screening in healthcare programs through cost-sharing.

Association between psychosocial factors and co-morbid cigarette smoking and alcohol use in a population experiencing homelessness.

The prevalence of combustible cigarette smoking in populations experiencing homelessness in the United States is five times that of the general population. The psychosocial well-being of persons who smoke and experience homelessness is poorer if such persons also use alcohol heavily. The PTQ2 study was a randomized clinical trial among persons experiencing homelessness who were also current smokers and heavy alcohol consumers. Secondary data analysis of the PTQ2 baseline data was conducted to examine associations among psychosocial variables (anxiety, depression, hopelessness, social network size), heaviness of smoking (cigarettes/day) and alcohol consumption (drinking days/month), and duration and frequency of homelessness. Among the 420 participants, the majority were male (75%), black (70%) and non-Hispanic (94%) with a mean age of 46.6 years (SD = 11.6).  Bivariate analyses show that heaviness of smoking was positively correlated with social network size (r = 0.16, p = .001). Heaviness of drinking was positively correlated with the MINI anxiety score (r = 0.13, p = .009) and marijuana use (median total number of drinks in past 30 days among those who used marijuana in past 30 days vs. did not use: 50 vs. 24, p < .0001), and associated with frequency of homelessness (median total number of drinks in past 30 days among those experiencing homelessness once vs. >1 time: 30 vs. 44, p = .022). The findings highlight the psychosocial factors that warrant consideration when addressing heavy smoking and alcohol consumption in persons experiencing homelessness.

Exploring the barriers and facilitators towards physical activity among church members in Lagos, Nigeria: a qualitative study.

Background: Physical inactivity is substantially linked to the rise in the global burden of non-communicable diseases. Faith-based organizations are recognized as potential partners for sustainable health interventions. Objective: This study aims to explore the facilitators and barriers towards physical activity among adult church members in Lagos, Nigeria. Methods: Sixteen focus group discussions (n-163) were conducted among adult male and female church members in twelve Anglican churches. The discussions were audio-taped, transcribed verbatim and analysed along with the field notes for themes using sequential approach with the aid of the Dedoose® software. Results: Individual facilitators of PA included self-discipline, and personal habits. Individual barriers were laziness, ill-health, fear of injury and pre-existing health conditions. Organizational facilitators included biblical verses promoting PA, while deterring factors were lack of safe spaces for PA and poor knowledge among church leadership. The community-level facilitators included pro-physical activity cultural practices, while the prevailing practice hiring house-helps, high costs of gym membership and gender norms discouraging men from participating in household chores served as deterring community-level factors. Environmental facilitators were the availability of safe spaces for PA while deterring factors were city living and high traffic density. Conclusion: Several multi-level factors influence physical activity among church members. While it is pertinent to address personal factors, family and community factors also promote PA, therefore, group-level interventions may be warranted. Strategies that address the socio-cultural norms that serve as barriers to PA should also be included in the design of church-based PA programmes.