Health Related Quality of Life and Associated Factors Among Adult Patients with Rheumatic Heart Disease Patients in Ethiopia.

Background: Quality of life (QOL) is defined as "individuals" perceptions of their position in life. Rheumatic heart disease (RHD) is a consequence of severe, single, or recurrent bouts of acute rheumatic fever. To improve overall patient outcomes, there is currently a greater emphasis on assessing the QOL of these patients. The purpose of this study is to assess the QOL of adult RHD patients who had followed up at St Peter and Tikur Anbessa Hospital, Ethiopia. Methods: An institutional-based cross-sectional study done at St Peter and Tikur Anbessa Hospital, Ethiopia from March 1-June 30/2021 in adult RHD patients. The sample size was 297. Socio-demographic and clinical data were collected using a structured questionnaire. The Amharic version of Short form-36 (SF-36) was used to assess the QOL. A logistic regression model was used to identify associated factors. Results: The study included 297 patients. The majority are female (71%), and half of them are aged between 18-30 years of age. Of the patiends, 81.1% had no comorbidity, and 15.8% had interventions. RHD affects all domains and summary scores of short form 36 QOL parameters compared to normative values. Age, marital status, place of residence, presence of comorbidity, number of medications, and whether an intervention was done are associated with the QOL of these patients. Conclusion: RHD patients had poor QOL assessed by SF-36. It affects all domains and summary score of short form 36 QOL parameters. Old age, divorce, living in rural areas, associated comorbid conditions, and no intervention done are associated with poor QOL. Identification and treating comorbid conditions and intervention may improve QOL.

Awareness of Colorectal Cancer and Associated Factors Among Adult Patients in Jimma, South-West Ethiopia: An Institution-Based Cross-Sectional Study.

BACKGROUND: Colorectal cancer (CRC) is the first commonest diagnosed cancer in men and the fourth commonest in women in Ethiopia. Awareness of CRC and associated factors is crucial in the prevention of CRC. However, there have not been studies about the awareness of CRC and associated factors among adult patients in Ethiopia. Therefore, the study aimed to assess the awareness of CRC and associated factors among adult patients in Jimma, South-West Ethiopia, 2020. METHODS: This institution-based cross-sectional study design was conducted among 422 adult patients. The study respondents were recruited by a systematic random sampling method. The Cancer Awareness Measure questions were used to measure awareness of CRC of adult patients. Descriptive and logistic regression analyses were conducted. RESULTS: More than half (57.6%) of respondents had low-level awareness of CRC. Respondents who were females (adjusted odds ratio [AOR] = 1.86; 95% CI: 1.26, 2.75), who are residing in urban areas (AOR = .45; 95% CI: .30, .67), who had a monthly income of 3000 Ethiopian Birr and above (AOR = 4.72; 95% CI: 3.11, 7.15), who heard about CRC (AOR = 4.48; 95% CI: 2.90, 6.93), who get information through social media about CRC (AOR = 2.51; 95% CI: 1.18, 5.37), and who had a family history of CRC (AOR = 3.27; 95% CI: 1.45, 7.36) had a high level of awareness of CRC, while those who cannot read and write (AOR = 2.83; 95% CI: 1.49, 5.37) and learn elementary school (AOR = 2.12; 95% CI: 1.15, 3.93) had a low level of awareness of CRC. CONCLUSION: This study indicated that awareness of CRC of adult patients was inadequate. Adult patients' gender, residency, level of education, monthly income, heard about CRC, sources of information about CRC, and a family history of CRC were found to be independent predictors of the awareness of CRC. Therefore, there is a need for health education and awareness campaigns for promoting awareness of CRC of adult patients, and the government should develop policy on CRC prevention and screening program.

Practice of and associated factors regarding prevention of surgical site infection among nurses working in the surgical units of public hospitals in Addis Ababa city, Ethiopia: A cross-sectional study.

BACKGROUND: Surgical site infections are one of the commonest types of healthcare-associated infections. Up to 60% of these infections are estimated to be preventable by using evidence-based guidelines. As a front line caregiver, nurses are responsible for the majority of preventive activities. Hence, the enhanced practical skill of nurses is an essential component in preventive actions. OBJECTIVE: The aim of this study was to assess the practice of nurses and identify factors associated with it regarding prevention of surgical site infections in Addis Ababa city public hospitals. METHODS: An institution-based cross-sectional study was carried out from March 01-30, 2018. An adapted and pretested, self-administered questionnaire was utilized as a data collection tool. A stratified random sampling technique was employed by considering the level of hospitals as a stratum. Data were entered into a computer using Epi-data 3.1 statistical package. Then, it was exported to SPSS Version 23 for further analysis. Descriptive statistics were computed for the study variables. Bivariate regression analysis was also run to assess the association between independent variables and the level of nurse's practice. To see the relative effect of independent variables on the nurse's practice, a multivariable regression analysis was carried out. RESULT: A total of 409 nurses returned the questionnaire with a response rate of 98%. Majority (60.4%) of the participants were females and 84.1% were BSc holders. Less than half, (48.9%) of the participants were found to have good practice regarding prevention of surgical site infection. Being male, having more work experience, higher educational level and using available infection prevention guidelines were significantly associated with practice at p <0.05. CONCLUSION: More than half of the participants have inadequate practice regarding prevention of surgical site infection. Training nurses, making surgical site infection prevention guidelines easily accessible and ensuring possessed knowledge by nurses is potent enough and can be translated into desirable actions are recommended.

Survival status and associated factors of death among cervical cancer patients attending at Tikur Anbesa Specialized Hospital, Addis Ababa, Ethiopia: a retrospective cohort study.

BACKGROUND: Cervical cancer is a cancer of uterine cervix caused mostly by sexually-acquired infection called Human papillomavirus (HPV. In developing region of the globe, fewer than 50% of women with cervical malignancy survive more than 5 years. Therefore, the objective of this study was to assess survival status and associated factors of death among cervical cancer patients attending at Tikur Anbesa Specialized Hospital (TASH), Ethiopia. METHODS: Facility based retrospective cohort study was conducted from March to April 2019 at Tikur Anbesa Specialized Hospital oncology center. Data was collected from patient's chart using pre-tested and structured checklist prepared in English and analyzed using STATA14.2. Cox regression model was used to identify Variables that affected survival. RESULT: The overall survival rate was 38.62% at 5 years. There were a significance differences in survival experience between categories of stage of cervical cancer, age of patients, comorbidity, substance use, base line anemia and treatment modalities. Being stage IV [AHR = 11.76; 95% CI (4.02-34.4)],being advanced age [AHR = 5.99; 95% CI (2.1-17.08)], being comorbid [AHR = 1.58; 95%CI(1.14-2.19)], using substance [AHR = 1.56;95% CI(1.09-2.22)] and being anemic [AHR = 1.6;95% CI(1.11-2.36)] increased the risk of death. CONCLUSION: The overall survival rate was lower than high- and middle-income countries and Significant factors of death after diagnosis of cervical cancer were; advanced FIGO stage, base line anemia, comorbidity, substance use, advanced age and treatment modality. Authors recommend that it is better to expand cervical cancer early screening programs and treatment facilities, strengthen awareness in collaboration with public medias about cervical cancer prevention, screening and treatment options.

Health-related quality of life of patients with diagnosed type 2 diabetes in Felege Hiwot Referral Hospital, North West Ethiopia: a cross-sectional study.

OBJECTIVE: Diabetes mellitus is a chronic non-communicable disease with considerable impact on health status and quality of life. It has a profound effect on quality of life in terms of social and psychological as well as physical well-being. This study was conducted to assess health related quality of life among patients with diagnosed type 2 diabetes. RESULT: A cross-sectional study design was conducted from April to May, 2015. World Health Organization quality of life-BREF tool was used for collecting the data. A total of 344 patients with diagnosed type 2 diabetes were involved in the study. The overall health related quality of life mean score of the study participants was 52.6 ± 12.1 SD. Social domain has higher mean score (57.8 ± 14.8 SD). Educational status, marital status, occupation, duration of the diabetes and diabetes related complications had statistically significant association with health-related quality of life. An intervention that give special attention to the breaking of the cycle of low occupational status and literacy; and which encourage patients with type 2 DM to have good control of their diabetes and prevent complication should be implemented to improve their quality of life.

Nurses' attitude and perceived barriers to pressure ulcer prevention.

BACKGROUND: The presence or absence of pressure ulcers has been generally regarded as a performance measure of quality nursing care and overall patient health. The aim of this study- wasto explorenurses' attitude about pressure ulcer prevention'and to identify staff nurses' perceived barriers to pressure ulcer prevention public hospitals in Addis Ababa, Ethiopia. METHODS: A self-reported multi-center institutional based cross sectional study design was employed to collect data from staff nurses (N = 222) working in six (6) selected public hospitals in Addis Ababa, from April 01-28/2015. RESULTS: Majority of the nurses had (n = 116, 52.2%) negative attitude towards pressure ulcer prevention. The mean scores of the test for all participants was 3.09out of 11(SD =0.92, range = 1-5). Similarly, the study revealed several barriers need to be resolved to put in to practice the strategies of pressure ulcer prevention; Heavy workload and inadequate staff (lack of tie) (83.1%), shortage of resources/equipment (67.7%) and inadequate training (63.2%) were among the major barriers identified in the study. CONCLUSIONS: The study finding suggests that Addis Ababa nurses have negative attitude to pressure ulcer prevention. Also several barriers exist for implementing pressure ulcer prevention protocols in public hospitals in Addis Ababa, Ethiopia. Suggestion for improving this situation is attractive.