Undiagnosed hypertension and associated factors among adult population in central zone of Tigray, Northern Ethiopia 2020: A cross-sectional study.

Background and Aims: Undiagnosed hypertension is a major risk factor for cardiovascular diseases and complications such as heart attack and stroke. Limited information is available on the prevalence of undiagnosed hypertension and its associated factors in Ethiopia, particularly in the study setting. This study aimed to assess the prevalence of undiagnosed hypertension and its associated factors in the central zone of Tigray, Northern Ethiopia. Methods: A community-based cross-sectional study was conducted from April 1 to May 31, 2020. A pretested structured questionnaire was used and both face-to-face interview and physical measurement were used to collect the data. Blood pressure was measured on two different days for each study participant, and an average of the measurements were taken. In addition, 736 participants were included in this study, through a systematic random sampling technique. Data were analyzed using SPSS version 23. Bivariate and multivariable logistic regression analyses were performed to identify factors associated with undiagnosed hypertension. Adjusted odds ratios and 95% confidence intervals were used to show the strength of the association and declare statistical significance at p < 0.05. Results: In the study, the mean age of the participants was 51.9 (standard deviation: 17.9) years old. Prevalence of undiagnosed hypertension was found 15.4% (N = 113). The factors associated with undiagnosed hypertension were being divorced (adjusted odds ratio [AOR] = 15.2, 95% confidence interval [CI]: 8.2-28.3), alcohol consumption (AOR = 2.07, 95% CI: 1.22-3.51), not eating fruits (AOR = 4.1, 95% CI: 2.37-7.08), not eating vegetables (AOR = 3.47, 95% CI: 2.02-5.96) and poor knowledge (AOR = 3.05, 95% CI: 2.75-7.83). Conclusion: Around one in six study participants had undiagnosed hypertension. Being divorced, drinking alcohol, not eating fruits, not consuming vegetables, and having poor knowledge of hypertension were significant factors. Public health interventions, like providing adequate hypertension health information, frequent screening, and implementation of an appropriate intervention for particular factors, are critical for reducing the burden of undiagnosed hypertension.

Undernutrition and associated factors among adult HIV/AIDS patients receiving antiretroviral therapy in eastern zone of Tigray, Northern Ethiopia: a cross-sectional study.

BACKGROUND: Undernutrition and HIV/AIDS are highly prevalent in sub-Saharan Africa, Ethiopia inclusive as linked in a vicious cycle. Thus, several studies have documented that undernutrition among HIV/AIDS patients increases the risk of mortality, decrease survival rates, affect the overall clinical outcome and quality of life.Despite this fact, information about the burden of undernutrition and associated factors among adults receiving antiretroviral therapy is lacking in the particular study area. Hence, this study aimed to examine the prevalence of undernutrition and associated factors among adult HIV/AIADS patients receiving antiretroviral therapy patients in Eastern Zone of Tigray, Northern Ethiopia. METHODS: A cross-sectional research design was adopted in data collection while systematic sampling technique was employed to sample and select the study subjects. A structured questionnaire was used to collect information from 394 study subjects through face to face method.Also, data on demographics, laboratory and anthropometric variables were collected from each selected patients sampled.The data collected were entered and analyzed using SPSS version 22.. Bivariate and multivariable logistic regression analysis with 95% confidence interval were used to find factors associated with undernutrition. The adjusted odds ratio was calculated to show the strength of the association. Variables with p-value of < 0.05 were considered statically significant. RESULTS: The mean age of the respondents was 41 (± 10). Out of 394 study respondents, about 42.9% of them were undernourished (95% CI: 37.8-47.7).Respondents who had CD4+ count less than 200 cells/µl (AOR = 1.84; 95% CI: 1-3.36), being advanced clinical staging (AOR = 3.6; 95% CI: 2.11-6.18), and not taking co-trimoxazole preventive therapy (AOR = 2.38; 95% CI: 1.21-4.6) were independently associated with undernutrition. CONCLUSION: The result of this study indicated that the prevalence of undernutrition was high.Respondents with advanced clinical stage of CD4+ count less than 200 cells/ul and those that were not taking co-trimoxazole preventive therapy was found to be positively associated with undernutrition.Therefore, the implementation of nutritional programs is very crucial to improve the nutritional status of HIV/AIDS patients in the particular study.

Prevalence and Associated Factors of Early Postnatal Care Service Use Among Mothers Who Had Given Birth Within the Last 12 Months in Adigrat Town, Tigray, Northern Ethiopia, 2018.

BACKGROUND: The care given for the first hours, days, and weeks after childbirth is life-threatening. So far, this period receives less attention from health-care providers than the care given to pregnancy and delivery. This study aimed to determine the prevalence and associated factors of early postnatal care service use among mothers who had given birth in the last 12 months in Adigrat Town, Tigray, Ethiopia. METHODS: A community-based cross-sectional study was conducted from March to April 2018 among 481mothers who had given birth in the last 12 months. A systematic random sampling technique was used to select study participants. A pre-tested and structured questionnaire was used to collect the data. Data analysis was computed using SPSS version 20. An adjusted odds ratio with a 95% confidence interval and p-value less than 0.05 was used to determine the level of significance. RESULTS: The proportion of early postnatal care service utilization was 34.3% (95% CI: 29.9%-38.5%). Mothers' use of early postnatal care service was predicted by previous early postnatal care use (AOR=2.60, 95% CI: 1.41-4.77), ANC visit (AOR=0.122, 95% CI:0.059-0.251), delivery complication (AOR=5.57, 95% CI: 2.85-10.89), distance (AOR =5.05, 95% CI: 2.45-10.42), postnatal home visit (AOR=0.21, 95% CI: 0.11-0.40), awareness on early postnatal care (AOR=16.38 95% CI: 6.23-43.07), age (AOR=9.34, 95% CI: 1.73-50.27), (AOR=6.50, 95% CI: 2.29-18.41), (AOR= 6.23, 95% CI: 2.38-16.33) and income (AOR=7.97 95% CI: 2.42-26.26, AOR=3.30 95% CI:1.42-7.67). CONCLUSION: Our study's finding revealed that the prevalence of early postnatal care service use was low. Early postnatal care service use was significantly associated with previous early postnatal care use, delivery complication, distance, postnatal home visit, number of ANC visits, awareness on early postnatal care use, age, and income.

Seroprevalence of Hepatitis B Virus Infection, Mother-To-Child Transmission, and Associated Risk Factors Among Delivering Mothers in Tigray Region, Northern Ethiopia: a Cross-Sectional Study.

INTRODUCTION: High prevalence of hepatitis B virus (HBV) infection among pregnant women is the primary source of infection for their children and the general population. Mother-to-child transmission (MTCT) is the primary mode of transmission in endemic areas like Ethiopia. The aim of this study was to determine the prevalence of HBV infection, rate of MTCT, and associated risk factors among delivering mothers. METHODS: This health facility-based cross-sectional study was conducted in four public hospitals of the Eastern zone of Tigray among 473 delivering mothers. Structured questionnaires and laboratory results were used to collect the data. The data were checked for completeness and entered into EpiData manager version 4.6.0.0. Then the data were exported to Statistical Package for Social Sciences (SPSS) version 23. The odds ratio, along with a 95% confidence interval, was estimated to identify predictors of HBV infection using multivariable logistic regression analysis. Significant association was considered at p < 0.05. RESULTS: A total of 473 mothers were enrolled, and the response rate was 100%. The prevalence of HBV infection among the mothers and the rate of MTCT of the infection were 11.6% and 30.9%, respectively. History of home delivery [adjusted odds ratio (AOR) = 4.5, 95% confidence interval (CI) (2, 10.6)], history of hospital admission [AOR = 5, 95% CI (2.2, 11.5)], working at health facility [AOR = 5.4, 95% CI (1.4, 20.7)], body tattoos [AOR = 5.8, 95% CI (2.4, 13.6)], sharing personal care materials [AOR = 3.8, 95% CI (1.4, 9.9)], insufficient knowledge [AOR = 5.6, 95% CI (1.6, 19)], and having human immunodeficiency virus (HIV) [AOR = 5.1, 95% CI (1, 26.2)] were significantly associated with HBV infection. CONCLUSION: HBV infection among delivering women is becoming highly endemic, and the rate of MTCT was high. Therefore, administering hepatitis B vaccine to all neonates within 24 h of birth is mandatory to prevent MTCT of HBV infection and related complications. Furthermore, health education and dissemination of information about HBV for the pregnant mothers are needed to reduce HBV infection and vertical transmission in Ethiopia.

Factors associated with stroke among adult patients with hypertension in Ayder Comprehensive Specialized Hospital, Tigray, Ethiopia, 2018: A case-control study.

BACKGROUND: Globally, the burden of stroke is increasing at an alarming rate. Factors associated with stroke among hypertensive patients are not consistent across different studies and there are limited studies particularly to hypertensive stroke in the particular setting. This study aimed to assess factors associated with stroke among patients with hypertension in Ayder Comprehensive Specialized Hospital, Mekelle, Tigray, Ethiopia, in 2018. METHODS: Hospital-based case-control study was conducted from February to April 2018. Cases were adult hypertensive patients with stroke and controls were adult hypertensive patients without a stroke. Cases and controls were identified from the patient's card review. Using a systematic random sampling technique 89 cases and 356 controls were included in this study. Record review, physical measurement, and interview techniques were used to collect data. Data was entered and analyzed by using SPSS version 23. Variables with a p-value of less than 0.25 in the bivariate logistic regression were selected for multivariable logistic regression. The adjusted odds ratio and 95% confidence interval were used to determine the association. P-value <0.05 was used to declare statistical significance. RESULTS: The mean age of cases and controls were 56.3 years (SD±13.53) and 51.9 years (SD±12.67) respectively. Lost to follow-up (AOR = 2.474, 95%CI: 1.368-4.929), alcohol drinking (AOR = 2.440, 95%CI: 1.291-4.613), use of excessive salt in diet (AOR = 3.249, 95%CI: (1.544-6.837), medication non-adherence (AOR = 3.967, 95%CI: 2.256-6.973), uncontrolled systolic blood pressure, (AOR = 3.196, 95%CI: 1.60-6.382), uncontrolled diastolic blood pressure (AOR = 2.204, 95%CI: 1.130-4.297) and high cholesterol level (AOR = 2.413, 95%CI: 1.319-4.414) were found to be significant factors. CONCLUSION: Lost to follow-up, alcohol drinking, uses of excessive salt in diet, medication non-adherence, and uncontrolled systolic and diastolic blood pressure were associated with stroke. Health education on lifestyle practices and hypertension-related complications in each follow-up visit is very essential for improving the primary stroke prevention.