What does your partner want? Using a gender equality lens to assess partner support and involvement in family planning in Uganda.

It is unclear if there are any differences in the ways men and women perceive partner support in the context of family planning. The USAID-funded Social and Behavior Change Activity (SBCA) in Uganda explored male versus female priorities in the decision-making considerations and preferred measures of partner support related to family planning. Data were from a cross -sectional nationally representative telephone survey of 1177 men and women aged 18-49 years old in sexual partnerships. Key measures included current family planning use (Are you or your partner currently doing anything to prevent or delay becoming pregnant?); family planning decision-making considerations (In your experience, which of the following are the three most important considerations as you make family planning decisions?); and preferred partner support (What level of involvement would you like to see from your partner in your family planning decisions?). Multivariable logistic regressions explored factors associated with decision-making priorities and preferred partner support, adjusting for sociodemographic confounders. Two-thirds (66%) of men and women wanted a high level of involvement from their partner, which was associated with higher odds of using family planning (aOR: 2.46, 95% CI: 1.87-3.24). Specific ways partners could be involved included accompanying them to health services (39%), permitting them to get family planning services (26%), and jointly discussing family planning options (23%). Of note, more women wanted their partner to accompany them (45%) than men (33%) while more men (29%) wanted to jointly discuss options than women (15%). Social and behavior change interventions should operationalize partner support differently for men and women. Study findings were used to implement a health campaign that explicitly encouraged partner dialogue and support across the various life stages; empowering women with knowledge and skills to have honest conversations with their partners about birth spacing and timing.

Health behavior profiles and association with mental health status among US active-duty service members.

Introduction: This study investigated the clustering of health behaviors among US active duty servicemembers (ADSM) into risk profiles and explored the association between these profiles with ADSM sociodemographic characteristics and mental health status. Methods: This study utilized secondary data from the 2018 Health Related Behaviors Survey (HRBS), a Department of Defense (DoD) self-administered online survey. Health behaviors included physical activity, screen use, sleep habits, tobacco/substance use, alcohol drinking, preventive health care seeking and condom use at last sex/having multiple sexual partners. Past-year mental health status was measured using the Kessler Screening Scale for Psychological Distress (K6). Latent class analysis (LCA) on health behaviors was used to cluster ADSMs into risk profiles. Multivariable logistic model was used to examine whether ADSM characteristics and mental health status were associated with ADSMs' risk profiles. Results: The LCA identified a four-class model that clustered ADSMs into the following sub-groups: (1) Risk Inclined (14.4%), (2) High Screen Users (51.1%), (3) Poor Sleepers (23.9%) and (4) Risk Averse (10.6). Over a tenth (16.4%) of ADSMs were categorized as having serious psychological distress. Being male, younger, less educated, in the Army, Marine Corps or Navy were associated with higher odds of being Risk Inclined (AOR ranging from 1.26 to 2.42). Compared to the reference group of Risk Adverse ADSMs, those categorized as Risk Inclined (AOR: 8.30; 95% CI: 5.16-13.36), High Screen Users (AOR: 2.44; 95% CI: 1.56-3.82) and Poor Sleepers (AOR: 5.26; 95% CI: 3.38-8.19) had significantly higher odds of having serious psychological distress. Discussion: Study findings suggest opportunities to tailor behavioral and health promotion interventions for each of the distinct risk profiles. For example, ADSM described as Risk Inclined may benefit from preventive mental health services. Solutions for ADSM described as Poor Sleepers may include education on sleep hygiene; instituting duty schedules; and shifting military cultural norms to promote sleep hygiene as a pathway to optimal performance and thus military readiness. ADSM with low-risk behavior profiles such as those described as Risk Averse may prove beneficial in the roll-out of interventions as they act as peer-educators or mentors.

Perceived Health Status and Medical Conditions Among US Active-Duty Service Members.

Purpose: This paper investigates the association between self-reported perceived health status and doctor-informed medical conditions among US active duty service members (ADSM). Methods: Data are from the 2018 Health-Related Behaviors Survey - a cross-sectional survey weighted to represent the US military (N = 17166). Perceived good health status was defined as having a response choice of "good", "very good", or "excellent" to the question: Would you say your overall physical health is ___? Medical conditions were based on self-reported presence of nine clinical conditions. Analysis included weighted prevalence and log-binomial regression models to explore relationships between ADSM characteristics with perceived good health status as well as concordance between perceived status and medical conditions. Results: ADSM rated their health to be excellent (14.6%), very good (37.7%), good (36.2%), fair (9.7%) and poor (1.7%). About 88.5% perceived a good (to excellent) health status. Perceived good health status was negatively associated with the number of medical conditions present (adjusted odds ratio (aOR): ranging from 0.78 to 0.92) as well as several health behaviors (aOR): ranging from 0.86 to 0.98) and other sociodemographic factors. Among all ADSMs, 51% perceived good health in the absence of medical conditions, while 8% perceived poor health status in the presence of medical conditions. Concordance between perceived health status and medical conditions was significantly lower among ADSM who were older (aOR: 0.61; 95% CI: 0.54-0.69), with dependent children (aOR: 0.89; 95% CI: 0.84-0.95), or had been deployed (aOR: 0.89, 95% CI: 0.84-0.95). Conclusion: The prevalence of perceived good health status among ADSMs was consistent with those documented in the general US population. The interrelationships between ADSM's perceptions, medical conditions and sociodemographic characteristics may have implications for their health literacy and utilization of health services. Study findings suggest that interventions promoting healthy behaviors, health literacy and treatment-seeking may influence perceived health status and mitigate medical conditions among ADSM, thus improving the US Military readiness, resilience and mission success.

Defining longitudinal trajectory of body mass index percentile and predicting childhood obesity: methodologies and findings in the Boston Birth Cohort.

Background: Overweight or obesity (OWO) in school-age childhood tends to persist into adulthood. This study aims to address a critical need for early identification of children at high risk of developing OWO by defining and analyzing longitudinal trajectories of body mass index percentile (BMIPCT) during early developmental windows. Methods: We included 3029 children from the Boston Birth Cohort (BBC) with repeated BMI measurements from birth to age 18 years. We applied locally weighted scatterplot smoothing with a time-limit scheme and predefined rules for imputation of missing data. We then used time-series K-means cluster analysis and latent class growth analysis to define longitudinal trajectories of BMIPCT from infancy up to age 18 years. Then, we investigated early life determinants of the BMI trajectories. Finally, we compared whether using early BMIPCT trajectories performs better than BMIPCT at a given age for predicting future risk of OWO. Results: After imputation, the percentage of missing data ratio decreased from 36.0% to 10.1%. We identified four BMIPCT longitudinal trajectories: early onset OWO; late onset OWO; normal stable; and low stable. Maternal OWO, smoking, and preterm birth were identified as important determinants of the two OWO trajectories. Our predictive models showed that BMIPCT trajectories in early childhood (birth to age 1 or 2 years) were more predictive of childhood OWO (age 5-10 years) than a single BMIPCT at age 1 or 2 years. Conclusions: Using longitudinal BMIPCT data from birth to age 18 years, this study identified distinct BMIPCT trajectories, examined early life determinants of these trajectories, and demonstrated their advantages in predicting childhood risk of OWO over BMIPCT at a single time point.

Malaria-Related Psychosocial Factors, Past Antenatal Care-Seeking Behaviors, and Future Antenatal Care-Seeking Intentions by Maternal Age in Malawi and Democratic Republic of the Congo.

Young women in sub-Saharan Africa are a group at increased risk for malaria in pregnancy. Early antenatal care (ANC) seeking makes it more likely that women will receive the recommended doses of intermittent preventive treatment of malaria in pregnancy. This study used data from national Malaria Behavior Surveys conducted in Malawi and the Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC) in 2021 to explore the association between intention to attend ANC in the first trimester for a future pregnancy (early ANC intention) and psychosocial factors among women aged 15-49 years. Eight psychosocial factors related to ANC and based on the ideation model were included, including knowledge, attitudes, and self-efficacy. The study used multivariable logistic regression models controlling for demographic characteristics to evaluate associations between early ANC intention and the individual ideational factors and the composite measure. Analysis included 2,148 women aged 15-49 years (Malawi: 827, DRC: 1,321). Antenatal care ideation was lower among young (aged 15-20 years) than among older (aged 21-49 years) women in Malawi. Young mothers with higher ANC ideation were more likely to intend to attend ANC early in their next pregnancy in both countries. Specific ideational factors associated with intention to attend ANC early varied by country and included positive attitudes, knowledge of ANC, and positive self-efficacy. In Malawi and the DRC, youth-friendly social and behavior change interventions to increase ANC-related ideation could increase future early ANC attendance among young women to improve malaria and birth outcomes.

Community Mobilization is Associated with HIV Testing Behaviors and Their Psychosocial Antecedents Among Zambian Adults: Results from a Population-Based Study.

Community mobilization (CM) is a vital yet under-explored avenue for increasing HIV testing in generalized HIV epidemic settings. Using multi-stage cluster sampling, a population-based sample of 3535 Zambian adults (mean age: 28 years, 50% women) were recruited from 14 districts to complete a household survey. Exploratory factor analysis (EFA) was used to re-validate a 23-item, 5-factor CM scale. Multivariable logistic and Poisson regression were then used to identify associations of CM with HIV testing behaviors and their psychosocial antecedents. A 21-item, 3-factor ("Leadership", "Collective Action Capacity", and "Social Cohesion") CM solution emerged from EFA (Cronbach's α 0.88). Among men and in rural settings, higher CM was significantly (p < 0.05) associated with elevated odds of HIV testing and more past-year HIV testing discussion sources, controlling for socio-demographics and sexual behaviors. Results underscore the importance of prioritizing CM to cultivate more favorable environments for HIV testing uptake, especially for men and rural residents.

Addressing COVID-19 Rumors and Behaviors Using Theory in Guyana: A Program Case Study.

INTRODUCTION: To manage the rapid rise of misleading information on the coronavirus disease (COVID-19) during the pandemic, the Breakthrough ACTION project developed a theory-based rumor-tracking system to inform Guyana's COVID-19 communication campaign. METHODS: The rumor-tracking project used the extended parallel processing model (EPPM) to identify and categorize rumors reflecting perceived high versus low vulnerability to COVID-19 and high versus low efficacy of engaging in recommended COVID-19 prevention behaviors. The project designed contextually relevant social and behavior change messages, called "MythBusters," responded to rumor categories with the following objectives: (1) high perceived vulnerability and high efficacy rumors included a call to action; high perceived vulnerability and low efficacy rumors educated about effective and achievable solutions; (3) low perceived vulnerability and high efficacy rumors educated about risk; and (4) low perceived vulnerability and low efficacy rumors educated about risk and effective and achievable solutions. RESULTS: Most rumors emanated from regions 4 and 8 (29%). Over two-thirds of the rumors (71%) recurred. Rumors were typically related to COVID-19 treatment or prevention (40%) and transmission (35%). Most rumors (48%) reflected low perceived vulnerability and low efficacy, 29% reflected high perceived vulnerability and low efficacy, 13% reflected low perceived vulnerability and high efficacy, and 10% reflected high perceived vulnerability and high efficacy. The project rapidly developed 12 MythBusters from June through December 2020 and integrated them into the national COVID-19 communication campaign, disseminated via radio, television, and Facebook. Estimates indicate that they have reached most of the target Guyanese population. DISCUSSION: The EPPM was a particularly useful tool, giving direction to countering myths with appropriate messaging to affect relevant behaviors. The COVID-19 MythBusters provided the Guyanese public with valid and verifiable information and promoted preventive and protective behaviors.

Psychosocial factors associated with malaria care-seeking in rural Ethiopia.

BACKGROUND: Ethiopia's National Malaria Control and Elimination Program aims to diagnose all suspected malaria cases within 24 h of fever onset and provide prompt treatment for confirmed cases. This study explored psychosocial factors associated with no-, delayed- and prompt- care-seeking among female caregivers of children under five years with fever in rural Ethiopia. METHODS: Household surveys were conducted from 2016-2019 among female caregivers (N = 479) of children under five years old with fever in Oromia; Amhara; Southern Nations, Nationalities, and Peoples Region (SNNPR); and Tigray. Prompt and delayed care-seeking were defined as seeking treatment within ≤ 24 h or > 24 h of symptom onset respectively. Contextual factors explored included sociodemographic factors, household supply of bed nets, exposure to health messages, and household vulnerability (a measure of financial access to food, shelter, schooling, and medical treatment). Ideational factors included psychosocial factors related to care-seeking (knowledge, self-efficacy, response efficacy, attitudes, involvement in decision-making, and household social support). RESULTS: The prevalence of fever among children under five years was 18% (ranging from 9% in Tigray to 34% in SNNPR. Overall, 45% of caregivers of children with fever sought care promptly, while 23% delayed care-seeking and 32% sought no care. Prompt care-seeking rates were higher among caregivers with positive attitudes toward prompt care-seeking (48%), involved in decision-making (48%) or perceived equitable gender norms in the community (65%). Caregivers with a high care-seeking ideation had increased odds of prompt care-seeking (aOR: 2.65; 95% CI: 1.74-4.02). Significant contextual factors included residence in the Oromia region (aOR: 2.99; 95% CI:1.40-6.41), caregivers age 35-49 years (aOR: 0.49; 95% CI: 0.26-0.95), residence in vulnerable households (aOR: 2.01; 95% CI: 1.28-3.18). CONCLUSIONS: Among this rural Ethiopian population, prompt care-seeking was low but positively influenced by both ideational and contextual psychosocial factors occurring at the caregiver level. Multi-sectoral interventions at the individual, community, and health facility levels are needed to improve prompt care-seeking. These include social behavior change interventions to improve ideation, complemented by health facility interventions to ensure provision of high-quality services and structural interventions to increase educational attainment in these rural settings.

Malaria care-seeking and treatment ideation among gold miners in Guyana.

BACKGROUND: Although miners are a priority population in malaria elimination in Guyana, scant literature exists on the drivers of malaria-related behaviour. This study explores the relationship between gold miners' malaria-related ideation and the adoption of malaria care-seeking and treatment behaviours including prompt care-seeking, malaria testing, and self-medication. METHODS: Data are from a cross-sectional quantitative survey of 1685 adult miners between the ages of 18-59 years who live in mining camps in Regions 1, 7, and 8. The analysis focused on miners who reported an episode of fever in the past year (n = 745). Malaria care-seeking and treatment ideation was defined as a composite additive score consisting of the following variables: general malaria knowledge, perceived severity, perceived susceptibility, beliefs, perceived self-efficacy, perceived norms, interpersonal communication, and perceived response efficacy. Multivariable logistic regressions explored the relationship between ideation on care-seeking/treatment behaviours, controlling for confounding variables. RESULTS: Most miners with a recent episode of fever had perceived risk (92%), self-efficacy (67%), susceptibility (53%) and high malaria knowledge (53%). Overall, miners' care-seeking/treatment ideation score ranged from 0 to 8 with a mean of 4.1. Ideation scores were associated with higher odds of care-seeking for fever (aOR: 1.19; 95% CI 1.04-1.36), getting tested for malaria (aOR: 1.22; 95% CI 1.07-1.38) and lower odds of self-medication (aOR: 0.87; 95% CI 0.77-0.99). CONCLUSIONS: A national community case management initiative is using study findings as part of its scale-up, using volunteers to make testing and treatment services more accessible to miners. This is complemented by a multi-channel mass media campaign to improve miners' ideation. Communication messages focus on increasing miners' knowledge of malaria transmission and symptoms, encourage positive beliefs about malaria testing and volunteer testers, promote evidence about the effectiveness of testing, and reminders of how quick and easy it is to get a malaria test with the community case management initiative. Study findings also have implications for efforts to eliminate malaria across the Guiana Shield.

Human-centered design process and solutions to promote malaria testing and treatment seeking behavior in Guyana hinterlands.

BACKGROUND: Malaria is a persistent public health challenge among miners and other hard-to-reach populations in Guyana's hinterland, specifically in Regions 1, 7, 8, and 9. Despite an overall decrease in malaria prevalence throughout Guyana, it remains common among mining populations whose work conditions both contribute toward malaria transmission and make it difficult to seek timely, Ministry of Health (MoH) approved malaria testing and treatment services. In an effort to develop innovative approaches to address this public health challenge, an interdisciplinary team of public health professionals, designers, and mining organizations collaborated using a human-centered design (HCD) process facilitated by the USAID-funded Breakthrough ACTION Guyana project in partnership with the MoH. METHODS: This paper describes two phases: [1] Define and [2] Design & Test. In the Define phase, following a literature review, we conducted 108 qualitative interviews with miners, camp managers, trained malaria testers, health workers, and other key stakeholders to understand experiences and challenges when seeking malaria testing and treatment services. These interviews were synthesized into 11 insights on issues such as risk perception, malaria knowledge, preventive behaviors, traditional and self-treatment, adherence to the correct treatment, testing, and coordination and communication gaps. From these insights, during the Design & Test phase, we developed 33 "How might we…?" questions which led to 792 ideas, of which eight emergent concepts were prototyped and refined in the field with 145 miners, camp managers, and stakeholders. RESULTS: The five final prototypes included: "Little Mosquito, Big Problem" social behavior change campaign; rapid counseling cards; branded malaria testing and treatment services; innovations in treatment adherence; and a participants, content, and logistics approach. CONCLUSION: When applying HCD to public health issues, there are both opportunities and challenges to reconcile gaps that may exist between the two disciplines. However, HCD provides additional tools and mindsets to generatively work with migrant and mobile mining communities to encourage malaria testing and treatment services.

Unlocking the human factor to increase effectiveness and sustainability of malaria vector control.

BACKGROUND: Progress in the fight against malaria has stalled in recent years, highlighting the importance of new interventions and tailored approaches. A critical factor that must be considered across contexts and interventions is human behaviour. MAIN TEXT: Factors such as acceptance of insecticide-treated nets (ITNs) and indoor residual spraying (IRS), ability and willingness to consistently use and appropriately care for ITNs and refraining from post-spray wall modifications can all impact the success of core vector control interventions. Understanding factors that can drive or inhibit these behaviours can contribute to improved social and behaviour change strategies and in turn, improved outcomes. Likewise, patterns of nighttime activities can reveal specific gaps in protection that cannot be filled by core interventions and inform development and deployment of complementary tools that meet people's needs and preferences. There is an opportunity to increase use of approaches such as human-centred design to engage affected communities more actively in identifying and developing sustainable solutions that meet their needs and lifestyles. Integration of social and behavioural research with entomological and epidemiological evaluations will provide a more complete picture of malaria transmission dynamics and inform improved targeting of context-appropriate interventions. Finally, for gains to be maintained, interventions must be rooted within systems that support long-term success. This includes a movement toward more sustainable vector control solutions, increased decision-making and ownership of research, implementation, and strategy development at the country level, and inclusive approaches that ensure all men, women, boys, and girls are engaged as part of the solution. CONCLUSIONS: No matter how efficacious, a tool will remain ineffective if communities do not engage with it or use it regularly. Entering the next decade in the fight against malaria there is a critical opportunity to elevate the role of social and behaviour change to increase the impact and sustainability of malaria control and elimination efforts. This includes removing social and structural barriers to use of existing tools at all levels, human-centred and inclusive design and implementation of new tools, and movement toward long-term solutions led by affected communities.

Birth outcomes across the spectrum of maternal age: dissecting aging effect versus confounding by social and medical determinants.

BACKGROUND: Given the trend of increasing maternal age and associated adverse reproductive outcomes in the US, this study aimed to assess whether this association is due to an independent aging or confounded by sociodemographic, biomedical, or behavioral determinants in a predominantly Black US population. METHODS: Data was from 8509 women enrolled in the Boston Birth Cohort. Adverse reproductive outcomes included spontaneous preterm delivery, cesarean delivery, and low birth weight. Covariates included sociodemographic (parity, race/ethnicity, education, marital status, income, receipt of public assistance, nativity); biomedical (obesity, hypertensive disorders, diabetes mellitus); and behavioral (consistent intake of multivitamin supplements, support from father of baby, support from family, major stress in pregnancy, cigarette smoking, alcohol intake). Analysis included Lowess and marginal probability plots, crude and adjusted sequential logistic regression models to examine age-outcome associations and to what degree the association can be explained by the above covariables. RESULT: Overall, the study sample had high levels of spontaneous preterm birth (18%), cesarean delivery (33%) and low birth weight (26%). Unadjusted models showed no significant difference odds of spontaneous preterm birth by maternal age but higher odds of cesarean section (aOR: 1.77, 95% CI: 1.60, 1.95) and low birth weight (aOR: 1.15, 95% CI: 1.04, 1.28) among women 30 years or older. Adjustment for sociodemographic factors, biomedical conditions and behavioral factors revealed higher odds of spontaneous preterm birth: (aOR: 1.30, 95% CI: 1.14, 1.49), cesarean section deliveries (aOR: 1.68, 95% CI: 1.51, 1.87) and low birth weight (aOR: 1.36, 95% CI: 1.21, 1.53). Across all ages, optimal BMI status and consistent multivitamin supplement intake were protective of spontaneous preterm birth and low birth weight. CONCLUSION: In this high-risk minority population, we demonstrated that the association between increasing maternal age and adverse pregnancy outcomes was due to an independent aging effect and the presence of confounding by sociodemographic, biomedical, and behavioral factors. Some modifiable risk factors to counteract aging effect, include optimizing BMI and consistent intake of multivitamin supplement. A fundamental change in how care is provided to women, particularly low income Black women, is needed with emphasis on the protective role of optimal nutritional status. TRIAL REGISTRATION: ClinicalTrials.gov Identifier: NCT03228875.

The role of ideation on the effect of an SBC intervention on consistent bed net use among caregivers of children under 5 years in Nigeria: a multilevel mediation analysis.

BACKGROUND: Malaria remains a significant public health challenge in Nigeria. Consistent bed net use (sleeping under a treated net every night) has been identified as a key malaria prevention behavior. This paper explores the relationship between mass media social and behavior change interventions, psychosocial factors, and consistent bed net use. METHODS: Data is from the endline survey of a USAID-funded social and behavior change communication campaign conducted from 2012 to 2017 across five states in Nigeria. The outcome measure was consistent bed net use, and the mediator variable was a composite measure called ideation from a set of psychosocial factors believed to influence bed net use. The independent variable was recall of malaria specific media messages. Multilevel mediation analysis explored if recall of malaria specific media messages had any effect on bed net related ideation and if this ideation had any effect on consistent net use. RESULTS: Respondents included in this study were on average aged 31 years, mostly married or cohabiting (97.5%) and female 75%. Four in 10 (39.7%) respondents were able to recall malaria specific messages. Respondents with low, moderate and high recall were 23, 32 and 80% more likely to have a higher ideational score in the emotional domain compared to those not able to recall. Respondents were more likely to have higher ideational scores in the cognitive domain if they had low (AOR = 1.26, 95% CI 1.15-1.38), moderate (AOR = 1.16, 95% CI 1.00-1.34) or high recall (AOR = 1.55, 95% CI 1.16-2.06), respectively compared to those with no recall. Similarly, respondents with low (AOR = 1.03, 95% CI .99-1.08), moderate (AOR = 1.15, 95% CI 1.08-1.23) and high (AOR = 1.15, 95% CI 1.01-1.30) recall were more likely to have a higher ideational score in the social domain compared to those with no recall. After adjusting for recall of media messages and other potential covariates, all three ideational domains also had a significant positive effect on consistent bed net use. For every unit increase in ideational score, the likelihood of reporting consistent bed net use increased by 5 to 10%. There was a significant indirect effect of recalling malaria specific messages on consistent bed net use through each of the ideational domains. CONCLUSION: Access to a bed net is a critical first step in the process of bed net utilization. However, psychosocial factors e.g., emotional, cognitive, and social domains of ideation also play a major role in bed net use. Mass media SBC interventions could potentially influence bed net related ideation and consequently improve net use behavior. Future Social and behavior change interventions should employ approaches that improve these domains of ideation within their audiences in order to increase bed net utilization.

Variation of physical durability between LLIN products and net use environments: summary of findings from four African countries.

BACKGROUND: Physical durability of long-lasting-insecticidal nets (LLIN) is an important aspect of the effectiveness of LLIN as a malaria prevention tool, but there is limited data on performance across locations and products. This secondary analysis of data from the VectorWorks project from 10 sites in four African countries involving six LLIN brands provides such data. METHODS: A total of 4672 campaign nets from 1976 households were recruited into prospective cohort studies 2-6 months after distribution through campaigns and followed for 3 years in Mozambique, Nigeria, DRC and Zanzibar, Tanzania. LLIN products included two 100 denier polyester LLIN (DawaPlus® 2.0, PermaNet® 2.0) distributed in five sites and four 150 denier polyethylene LLIN (Royal Sentry®, MAGNet®, DuraNet©, Olyset™ Net) distributed in five sites. Primary outcome was LLIN survival in serviceable condition and median survival in years. Net use environment and net care variables were collected during four household surveys. Determinants of physical durability were explored by survival analysis and Cox regression models with risk of failure starting with the first hanging of the net. RESULTS: Definite outcomes for physical durability were obtained for 75% of study nets. After 31 to 37 months survival in serviceable condition varied between sites by 63 percentage-points, from 17 to 80%. Median survival varied by 3.7 years, from 1.6 to 5.3 years. Similar magnitude of variation was seen for polyethylene and polyester LLIN and for the same brand. Cox regression showed increasing net care attitude in combination with exposure to net related messages to be the strongest explanatory variable of survival. However, differences between countries also remained significant. In contrast, no difference was seen for LLIN material types. CONCLUSIONS: Variation in net use environment and net care is the main reason for differences in the physical durability of LLIN products in different locations. While some of these factors have been identified to work across countries, other factors remain poorly defined and further investigation is needed in this area. Grouping LLIN brands by similar textile characteristics, such as material or yarn strength, is insufficient to distinguish LLIN product performance suggesting a more differentiated, composite metric is needed.

Trends in handwashing behaviours for COVID-19 prevention: Longitudinal evidence from online surveys in 10 sub-Saharan African countries.

Handwashing is essential for respiratory virus prevention, but uptake of handwashing in the context of the SARS-CoV-2 pandemic remains under-explored. This study examines trends in and determinants of handwashing practices for COVID-19 prevention in 10 countries in West, East, and Southern Africa. Data are derived from an online global Facebook survey assessing COVID-19 knowledge, attitudes, and practices, fielded in July (Round 1) and November 2020 (Round 2). Adults ≥18 years (N = 29,964) were asked if they practiced handwashing with soap and water in the past week to prevent COVID-19. Design-corrected F-statistics compared knowledge and practice of handwashing, at country and regional levels, between survey rounds. A country-level fixed-effects logistic regression model then identified socio-demographic and ideational correlates of handwashing at Round 2. Most participants were >30 years-old, men, post-secondary educated, and urban residents. Between survey rounds, handwashing prevalence declined significantly across regions and in each country, from a 14% decline (Δ84%-70%) in Tanzania to a 3% decline (Δ92%-89%) in South Africa. Handwashing was higher among participants aged >30 years (Adjusted Odds Ratio [aOR] = 1.25, 95% confidence interval [95%CI]: 1.15-1.35) and with post-secondary education (aOR = 1.62, 95%CI: 1.49-1.77) but lower among men (aOR = 0.71, 95%CI: 0.64-0.78). Ideational factors associated with handwashing included perceived effectiveness of handwashing (aOR = 2.17, 95%CI: 2.00-2.36), knowing someone diagnosed with COVID-19 (aOR = 1.28, 95%CI: 1.18-1.40), and perceived importance of personal action for COVID-19 prevention (aOR = 2.93; 95%CI: 2.60-3.31). Adjusting for socio-demographic and ideational factors, country-level marginal probabilities of handwashing ranged from 67% in Tanzania to 91% in South Africa in Round 2. COVID-19 prevention messages should stress the importance of handwashing, coupled with mask use and physical distancing, for mitigating respiratory disease transmission. Behaviour change communications should be sensitive to resource heterogeneities in African countries, which shape opportunities for sustainable handwashing behaviours.

Malaria prevention and care seeking among gold miners in Guyana.

Despite being a priority population in malaria elimination, there is scant literature on malaria-related behavior among gold miners. This study explores the prevalence and factors influencing malaria prevention, care seeking and treatment behaviors in Guyana gold mining camps. A cross sectional survey was conducted among adult gold miners living in mining camps in the hinterland Regions 1 (Barima-Waini), 7 (Cuyuni-Mazaruni), and 8 (Potaro-Siparuni). Multivariable logistic regressions explored factors associated with miners' self-report of mosquito net use, prompt care-seeking; self-medication; and testing for malaria. A third of miners used a mosquito net the night preceding the survey and net use was higher among those who believed that net use was the norm in their camp (aOR: 3.11; 95% CI:1.65, 5.88). Less than half (45%) of miners had a fever in the past 12 months, among whom 36% sought care promptly, 48% tested positive for malaria while 54% self-medicated before seeking care. Prompt care-seeking was higher among miners with high malaria knowledge (aOR: 1.44; 95% CI: 1.01, 2.05). Similarly, testing rates increased with secondary education (aOR: 1.71; 95% CI: (1.16, 2.51), high malaria knowledge (aOR: 1.45; 95% CI: 1.02, 2.05), positive beliefs regarding malaria transmission, threat, self-diagnosis, testing and treatment, and, trust in government services (aOR: 1.59; 95% CI (1.12, 2.27) and experience of a prior malaria episode (aOR: 2.62; 95% CI: 1.71, 4.00). Self-medication was lower among male miners (aOR: 0. 52; 95% CI: 0.32, 0.86). Malaria prevention and care seeking behaviors among miners are somewhat low and influenced by mosquito net usage, perceived norms, malaria knowledge and prior episode of confirmed malaria. Study findings have implications for malaria interventions in the hinterland regions of Guyana such as the mass and continuous distribution of insecticide treated nets as well as community case management initiatives using trained malaria testing and treatment volunteers to curb malaria transmission among remote gold mining populations. These include efforts to identify and address gaps in distributing mosquito nets to miners and address miners' barriers to prompt care seeking, malaria testing and treatment adherence. Targeted social and behavior change messaging is needed on net acquisition, use and care, prompt care-seeking, malaria testing and treatment adherence. Additional efforts to ensure the overall sustainability of the community case management initiative include increased publicity of the community case management initiative among miners, use of incentives to promote retention rates among the community case management volunteer testers and public private partnerships between the Guyana Ministry of Health and relevant mining organizations.

Maternal Hypertensive Disorders in Pregnancy and Postpartum Plasma B Vitamin and Homocysteine Profiles in a High-Risk Multiethnic U.S., Population.

Background: Hypertensive disorders of pregnancy are a recognized risk factor of a woman's future cardiovascular risk. The potential role of micronutrients in mitigating hypertensive disorders is not fully understood. This study examined maternal postpartum plasma B vitamin profiles by hypertensive disorders of pregnancy in a high-risk multiethnic U.S. population. Materials and Methods: The analyses included 2584 mothers enrolled within 3 days postpartum at the Boston Medical Center. Hypertensive disorders of pregnancy included gestational hypertension and pre-eclampsia disorders (pre-eclampsia, eclampsia, hemolysis, elevated liver enzymes, and/or low platelets syndrome) as documented in the medical records. Plasma folate, vitamin B12, and homocysteine levels were measured in blood samples collected at enrollment. Kernel density plots and multivariable regressions were used to examine the relationship between hypertensive disorders and postpartum B vitamin profiles. Results: Of the 2584 mothers, 10% had pre-eclampsia disorders that were associated with significantly lower plasma folate (adjusted beta coefficient (aß): -0.10; 95% CI: -0.22 to -0.06) and increased homocysteine (aß: 0.08; 95% CI: 0.04-0.13), but not with vitamin B12 concentrations. These associations remained robust after adjusting for a range of pertinent covariables and were more pronounced in non-Hispanic Black women compared with other groups. However, gestational hypertension was not significantly associated with any postpartum biomarker. Conclusions: We found that pre-eclampsia disorders, but not gestational hypertension, was associated with lower folate and higher homocysteine levels postpartum, especially among Black mothers. This finding, if further confirmed, may have implications for postpartum care, including attention to maternal micronutrient status to reduce and prevent hypertensive disorders in pregnancy-associated consequences in subsequent pregnancies and lifespan. Registration date: July 25, 2017; Registry website: https://clinicaltrials.gov/ct2/show/NCT03228875.

Monitoring the durability of the long-lasting insecticidal nets MAGNet and Royal Sentry in three ecological zones of Mozambique.

BACKGROUND: Malaria prevention with long-lasting insecticidal nets (LLINs) has seen a tremendous scale-up in sub-Saharan Africa in the last decade. To sustain this success, it is important to understand how long LLINs remain in the households and continue to protect net users, which is termed durability. This information is needed to decide the appropriate timing of LLIN distribution and also to identify product(s) that may be underperforming relative to expectations. Following guidance from the U.S. President's Malaria Initiative, durability monitoring of polyethylene 150-denier LLIN (Royal Sentry® and MAGNet®) distributed during a 2017 mass campaign in Mozambique was implemented in three ecologically different sites: Inhambane, Tete, and Nampula. METHODS: This was a prospective cohort study in which representative samples of households from each district were recruited at baseline, 1 to 6 months after the mass campaign. All campaign LLINs in these households were labelled and followed up over a period of 36 months. The primary outcome was the "proportion of LLINs surviving in serviceable condition" based on attrition and integrity measures and the median survival in years. The outcome for insecticidal durability was determined by bio-assay from subsamples of campaign LLINs. RESULTS: A total of 998 households (98% of target) and 1998 campaign LLIN (85% of target) were included in the study. Definite outcomes could be determined for 80% of the cohort LLIN in Inhambane, 45% in Tete, and 72% in Nampula. The highest all-cause attrition was seen in Nampula with 74% followed by Inhambane at 56% and Tete at 50%. Overall, only 2% of campaign LLINs were used for other purposes. Estimated survival in serviceable condition of campaign LLINs after 36 months was 57% in Inhambane, 43% in Tete, and 33% in Nampula, corresponding to median survival of 3.0, 2.8, and 2.4 years, respectively. Factors that were associated with better survival were exposure to social and behavioural change communication, a positive net care attitude, and folding up the net during the day. Larger household size negatively impacted survival. Insecticidal performance was optimal up to 24 months follow-up, but declined at 36 months when only 3% of samples showed optimal effectiveness in Inhambane, 11% in Tete and 29% in Nampula. However, 96% of LLIN still had minimal effectiveness at 36 months. CONCLUSIONS: Differences in median survival could be attributed at least in part to household environment and net care and repair behaviours. This means that in two of the three sites the assumption of a three-year cycle of campaign distributions holds, while in the Nampula site either continuous distribution channels could be expanded or more intense or targeted social and behaviour change activities to encourage net care and retention could be considered.