Antenatal physical exercise level and its associated factors among pregnant women in Hawassa city, Sidama Region, Ethiopia.

BACKGROUND: Antenatal physical exercise has roles in health maintenance, prevention, and treatment of disease for pregnant women and fetuses. Different organizations and medical institutions prescribe regular physical exercise during the antenatal period. Despite this, the pregnant populations are less active and decrease their exercise levels during pregnancy than in their non-pregnant state. Therefore, this study aimed to assess antenatal physical exercise level and its associated factors among pregnant women in Hawassa city, Sidama regional state, Ethiopia. METHODS: Institutional based cross-sectional study design was employed, and 600 study participants were interviewed using a systematic sampling technique from 25th September/2021 to 25th November/2021. Data entry was made using Epi-Data software version 3.1 and exported to SPSS version 25 for analysis. A bivariate logistic regression assessed the association between each independent variable and the outcome variable. Explanatory variables with a p-value of less than 0.25 were a candidate for the multivariable logistic regression. Finally, variables with a p-value of less than 0.05 were declared as statistically significant and reported with their AOR and 95% CI. RESULT: In this study, 25.5% of pregnant women had an adequate practice of antenatal physical exercise while 43.7% of pregnant women had an adequate level of knowledge on antenatal physical exercise An adequate practice of women's antenatal exercise is more likely to occur in women who are exposed to mass media (AOR: 2.43, 95% CI: 1.57, 3.78), Husband college and above educational level (AOR 1.57, 95% CI: 1.05, 6.12), having an adequate level of knowledge (AOR 2.12, 95% CI: 1.13, 3.37), and have of supporting facility (AOR: 2.29, 95% CI: 1.49, 3.51). CONCLUSION: In this study, three fourth of the study participants had an inadequate level of practice in antenatal physical exercise than the global standard. It shall be beneficial if the city health administration works towards improving pregnant women's knowledge and practice level on physical exercise by providing information using different media outlets. Healthcare providers should broadcast antenatal physical exercise prescriptions in integration with health-related programs.

Sexual violence and risk factors among night shift female college students in Hawassa city, South Ethiopia, 2020.

BACKGROUND: Sexual violence is any sexual act, attempt to obtain a sexual act, unwanted sexual comments or advances, against a person's sexuality using coercion, by any person regardless of their relationship to the victim, in any setting. Several studies were undertaken on sexual violence among students in general. Nevertheless, there is paucity of information about sexual violence among night shift students in particular; even if they are more vulnerable to sexual violence due to the nature of the class time. The government has embraced legal and policy frameworks to discourse the problem of sexual violence in Ethiopia; nevertheless, the problem still is quite pervasive. OBJECTIVE: This study was aimed to assess the prevalence of sexual violence and risk factors among night shift female college students in Hawassa city. METHODS: Institution-based cross-sectional study design was employed. A structured questionnaire was used to collect the data from 345 study participants. Systematic random sampling technique was used to choice study participants. Epi data version 3.1statistical software and Statistical Package for Social Sciences version 22.0 were used to enter and analysis the data. Both bivariable and multivariable logistic regression analyses were performed to recognize risk factors. P values < 0.05 with 95% confidence level were used to state statistical significance. RESULTS: A total of 330 students were participated in the study making a response rate of 95.6% with a mean age of 24.9. The prevalence of last 12 month sexual violence was 202 (61.2%) 95% CI (55.8, 66.4) which includes rape, attempted rape and sexual harassment. The 12 month prevalence of each form of violence was 46 (13.9%) 95% CI (10.6, 17.9), 23 (6.9%) 95% CI (3.6, 10.9) and 163 (49.4%) 95% CI (46.2, 53.6) of rape, attempted rape and sexual harassment respectively. The independent predictors of sexual violence having a father with no formal education (AOR = 2.39, 95% CI 1.04, 5.33) presence of multiple sexual partners (AOR = 3.44, 95% CI 1.64, 7.2), having sexual partner (AOR = 1.89, 95% CI 1.03, 3.5), and consuming alcohol (3.55, 95% CI 1.84-6.85) by the victims. CONCLUSION: This study shown that the prevalence of sexual violence is high among night shift female college students in Hawassa city. Having a father with no formal education, drinking alcohol, having multiple sexual partners and having sexual partner were more likely to have sexual violence within the last 12 month. Thus, students should prevent themselves from health risky behaviors and Hawassa educational bureau should be work on awareness creation concerning women empowerment with in marriage and Further broad and longitudinal studies are needed to determine the predictors of the problem among female students at Hawassa and Ethiopia as a whole.

Respectful family planning service provision in Sidama zone, Southern Ethiopia.

INTRODUCTION: Disrespect and abusive care is a violation of women's basic human rights and it is serious global problem that needs urgent intervention. Poor quality client-provider interaction is commonly reported from family planning programmes. In Ethiopia, disrespect and abusive care is very common (21-78%) across health facilities. OBJECTIVE: To assess the status of respectful family planning service (client-provider interaction) in Sidama zone, south Ethiopia. METHODOLOGY: Health facility-based cross-sectional study was conducted from June to August 2018. Data were collected from 920 family planning clients recruited from 40 randomly selected health facilities. The Mother on Respect index (MORi) questionnaire was used to collect the data through client exit interview. Partial proportional odds ordinal regression was employed to identify determinants of respectful family planning service. RESULT: Among family planning clients, the level of respectful family planning service was found to be zero (0%) in the very low respect category, 75(18.5%) in the low respect category, 382(41.52%) in moderate respect category and 463(50.33%) in high respect category. Being a short acting method client (AOR = 0.30, 95%CI [0.12, 0.72]), being an uneducated client (AOR = 0.39, 95%CI [0.25, 0.61]) or a client with elementary education (AOR = 0.41, 95%CI [0.23, 0.73]), client's poverty (AOR = 0.75, 95%CI [0.56, 0.99]), and long waiting time (AOR = 0.46, 95%CI [0.30, 0.69])significantly reduced the odds of moderate and high respect compared to low respect. Conversely, preference of male service providers, service providers' work satisfaction and health workers' prior training on respectful care significantly increased the odds of moderate and high respect. CONCLUSION: Considering the current strategy of zero tolerance for disrespect and abuse in Ethiopia, the level of respectful care in this study is sub-optimal. Short term training for service providers on respectful care seems valuable to enhance the level of respectful care for family planning clients irrespective of their socioeconomic background.

Factors associated with low birth weight among babies born at Hawassa University Comprehensive Specialized Hospital, Hawassa, Ethiopia.

BACKGROUND: Low birth weight is defined as infant born with weight of less than 2500 g. It is one of the major public health problems worldwide. In Ethiopia, there are limited evidences on factors contributing to low birthweight. OBJECTIVE: To assess factors associated with low birth weight babies in Hawassa University Comprehensive Specialized Hospital, Hawassa, Ethiopia from March to April, 2018. METHODS AND MATERIALS: An unmatched case control study was conducted at Hawassa University Comprehensive Specialized Hospital. All low birth weight newborns and two unmatched controls for each case were included in the study from March to April, 2018. Data were collected through face to face interview using a structured and pre-tested questionnaire. The collected data were managed with Epi-data version 3.1 software and exported to the Statistical Package for Social Science (SPSS) version 22. Bivariate and multivariate binary logistic regression were used to identify factors associated with low birth weight at p-value < 0.05 with their respective odds ratios and 95% confidence interval. Hosmer-Lemeshow test was used to assess goodness-of-fit. RESULTS: In this study 330 mother-newborn pairs (110 cases and 220 controls) were participated making 100% response rate. Among the participants 325(98.48%) were married, 164 (49.7%) were Protestant, 296 (89.7%) had ANC follow up and 212 (64.24%) were multipara. Mothers' mid-upper arm circumference less than 220 mm [(AOR) =2.89, 95% CI: 1.58, 5.29)], lack of nutritional counseling [AOR = 2.37, 95%CI: 1.3, 4.34], presence of complications during pregnancy [AOR = 2.96, 95%CI: 1.55, 5.64)] and lack of iron supplementations during pregnancy [AOR = 2.89, 95%CI: 1.58, 5.29)] were significantly associated with Low birth weight. CONCLUSIONS: Mothers' mid-upper arm circumference less than 220 mm, lack of nutritional counseling, presence of complications and lack of iron supplementations during current pregnancy were significantly associated with low birth weight. Counseling on nutrition during prenatal care needs attention of service providers.