Uncovering the high burden of hypertension and its predictors among adult population in Hosanna town, southern Ethiopia: a community-based cross-sectional study.

OBJECTIVE: Hypertension is a global public health problem, with its burden increasing particularly in developing countries. However, it has not yet received due attention in Ethiopia. The aim of this study was to determine the prevalence and associated factors of hypertension among adult population in Hosanna town, southern Ethiopia. DESIGN: Community-based cross-sectional study. SETTING: Hosanna town, southern Ethiopia. PARTICIPANTS: Adult population aged ≥18 years (n=634) were recruited by a multistage stratified sampling technique. OUTCOME MEASURES: A face-to-face interview using structured questionnaire was carried out by trained nurses. Anthropometry and blood pressure were measured following standard procedures. Hypertension status was defined as systolic blood pressure ≥140 mm Hg and/or diastolic blood pressure ≥90 mm Hg in two separate measurements or reported use of prescribed antihypertensive drugs for raised blood pressure. Factors associated with hypertension were identified by multivariable binary logistic regression analysis. RESULTS: The overall prevalence of hypertension was found to be 17.2% (19.3% and 14.2% among men and women, respectively). About 40% were unaware that they were hypertensive prior to the study. Older age ≥35 years (adjusted OR=3.9, 95% CI: 1.4 to 10.8), alcohol use (adjusted OR=3.4, 95% CI: 1.4 to 8.3), consumption of saturated oil (adjusted OR=6.5, 95% CI: 1.5 to 17.5) and unspecified different types of oil (adjusted OR=8.2, 95% CI: 1.9 to 25.1) and overweight/obesity (adjusted OR=2.9, 95% CI: 1.9 to 4.6) were found to be independently associated with hypertension. CONCLUSIONS: The prevalence of both diagnosed and undiagnosed hypertension is alarmingly high in the town. These findings underscore the need to design health information provision systems on the risk factors of hypertension and promote good health practices. Blood pressure screening programmes at community levels to identify and treat undiagnosed hypertension should be considered.

Prevalence and Associated Factors of Diabetes Mellitus in Hosanna Town, Southern Ethiopia.

Background/Objectives: Diabetes is a global public health problem, and its burden is rising, particularly in developing countries. However, limited data is available from sub-Sahara African communities to assess and monitor the disease burden. The study aimed to determine the prevalence and associated factors of diabetes in Hosanna, Ethiopia. Methods: A community-based cross-sectional study was conducted among 634 randomly selected adults in Hosanna. The study participants were recruited by multi-stage stratified sampling. A face-to-face interview using a structured questionnaire was administered by trained nurses. Anthropometry, blood pressure and fasting blood glucose levels were measured. Diabetes mellitus was considered when the fasting blood glucose level was ≥126 mg/dl on two separate measurements or when the participant self-reported a previous diagnosis of diabetes by healthcare providers or when the participant was currently receiving treatment for diabetes. Multi-variable binary logistic regression was used to identify factors associated with diabetes mellitus. Findings: The overall prevalence of diabetes was found to be 5.7% (95% CI; 4.0-7.7), out of which more than one third (36%) were not aware of it prior to the survey. Nearly two thirds (61.1%) of the diabetic participants were also found to be hypertensive. In the multi-variable analysis, diabetes was associated with current alcohol use, sitting on average of more than 8 hours/day, abnormal BMI and being hypertensive. Conclusion: The prevalence of diabetes among the adult population in the town is alarming. If appropriate measures to address the burden are not emplaced, it might result in serious complications to the patients and unnecessarily high costs to the health system of the country. Active screening for raised blood glucose level should be given due consideration, particularly in the community setting. Designing health education programs on the importance of physical activity and the risks of alcohol use should also be considered.

Prevalence and antibiotic susceptibility patterns of Shigella and Salmonella among children aged below five years with Diarrhoea attending Nigist Eleni Mohammed memorial hospital, South Ethiopia.

BACKGROUND: Diarrhoeal disease is the second leading cause of death among children aged below 5 years. Even though, both preventable and treatable diseases, globally there are nearly 1.7 billion cases of childhood diarrhoeal disease and responsible for killing around 525,000 children every year. Shigella and Salmonella species were the leading cause of etiologic agents for diarrhoea associated deaths. The aim of this study was to determine the prevalence and antibiotic susceptibility patterns of Shigella and Salmonella isolated from children aged below 5 years with diarrhoea attending Nigist Eleni Mohammed Memorial Hospital, Hossana, South Ethiopia. METHODS: A cross sectional study was conducted from June 02 to September 24, 2017. Two hundred four children aged below 5 years with diarrhoea were enrolled consecutively using convenience sampling technique. Stool specimens were processed in accordance with the standard bacteriological methods and antibiotic susceptibility pattern of the isolates was determined using disc diffusion method. Data were analyzed using SPSS version 20. RESULTS: Out of the 204 children aged below 5 years with diarrhoeal disease 19/204 (9.3%, [95%CI, 5.7-13.7%]) of them were positive for bacterial growth, of which 17/204(8.3%) were Shigella species and 2/204(1%) were Salmonella species. Both Shigella and Salmonella isolates were 100% susceptible to norfloxacin, nalidixic acid and kanamycin. However, isolates of Shigella showed 100, 76.5 and 64.7% resistance to ampicillin, gentamicin and cotrimoxazole respectively while Salmonella species were highly resistant to ampicillin and gentamicin (100% each). CONCLUSIONS: Salmonella and Shigella species is prevalent in the current study area. Among the tested antibiotics, norfloxacin, nalidixic acid and kanamycin were found to be most effective for both isolates. Both species are developing resistance to the commonly prescribed antibiotic. Therefore, culture based bacterial species identification and antimicrobial susceptibility testing services are strongly recommended to avoid empirical treatment in the study area.