Dietary diversity among school age children in Merawi town, Amhara region, Ethiopia, 2018: a community based cross-sectional study.

BACKGROUND: Malnutrition with its constituents of protein energy malnutrition and micro-nutrient deficiencies continues to be a major health burden in low and middle-income countries. To end all forms of malnutrition, we need to address poverty, which is associated with the insecure supply of food and diversified nutrition. The objective of this study was to determine the level of dietary diversity and household food security among urban school-age children in Merawi town, Ethiopia. METHODS: A community based cross-sectional study was conducted in Merawi town among 422 households having school age children from April 1 to June 15, 2018. The association between dietary diversity and determinants was assessed using binary logistic regression analysis. Socio-demographic, maternal and child related variables; food security and diversity determinants were studied. RESULTS: The overall level of good dietary diversity was 91.7%, i.e.; 8.3% had a low, 59.1% had a good, 32.6% had better dietary diversity, respectively. Most households (95.2%) were secured with food access. The factors associated with good dietary diversity were the age of the child [AOR = 0.31 (0.14, 0.70)], and access to information [AOR = 3.18 (1.07,9.47)]. CONCLUSION: The prevalence of good dietary diversity was relatively high. Among different socio-cultural and economic factors studied, age of the child and access to information were the factors associated with dietary diversity. Increasing maternal and child awareness towards good dietary diversity practices through the mass media (radio and Television) and working with mothers with early school-age children to improve dietary diversity are recommended.

Knowledge of neonatal danger signs among recently delivered mothers in Mekedella woreda, Northeast Ethiopia, in 2017: a cross-sectional study.

OBJECTIVE: This study was conducted with the aim of assessing mothers' level of knowledge of neonatal danger signs and its associated factors in Mekedella woreda, Northeast Ethiopia. STUDY DESIGN: This is a community-based cross-sectional study. METHODS: The study was conducted among 757 mothers who were selected by stratified simple random sampling between November 1, 2017, and December 30, 2017. A structured interviewer-administered pretested questionnaire was used to collect the data. Data were entered into EpiData, version 3.1, and then exported into SPSS (statistical package for social science), version 20, for analysis. Independent predictors of women's level of knowledge were identified by multivariable logistic regression analysis. RESULTS: In total, only 28.2% of mothers were knowledgeable about neonatal danger signs. Significant predictors of a good level of knowledge on newborn danger signs included those who attended secondary education, were urban residents, attended 2-3 antenatal care visits, had an institutional delivery, attended postnatal care visit(s), had a higher decision-making ability to seek neonatal health care, completed up-to-date immunisation of the infant, had heard about neonatal danger signs from health workers and had a history of neonatal death. CONCLUSIONS: Educating women, increasing mothers' health service use and providing health education for mothers who attend pregnancy-related services showed a positive impact on their knowledge of neonatal danger signs and should therefore be promoted.

Determinants of pneumonia among 2-59 months old children at Debre Markos referral hospital, Northwest Ethiopia: a case-control study.

BACKGROUND: Pneumonia is a significant public health problem globally. The early identification and management of the determinants of pneumonia demands clear evidence. But, there is a limited data on this issue in the current study area. Thus, this study aimed to identify the determinants of pneumonia among 2-59 months old children at Debre Markos Referral Hospital, Northwest Ethiopia. METHODS: A Hospital based unmatched case-control study was conducted among 334 (167 Cases and 167 Controls) children at Debre Markos Referral Hospital from February 1 to March 30, 2018. Consecutive sampling technique was employed and data were collected with a pre-tested interviewer administered questionnaire. Data were entered into Epi-Data version 4.2, and analyzed using SPSS version 25 software. Bi-variable and multi-variable logistic regression analyses were fitted. Variables having p-value < 0.05 were considered as statistically significant. RESULTS: A total of 328(164 cases and 164 controls) 2-59 months old children were included in this study. Not opening windows daily [AOR:6.15(2.55,14.83)], household near to the street [AOR:4.23(1.56,11.44)], child care by the house workers and relatives [AOR:2.97 (1.11,7.93)], using only water for hand washing before child feeding [AOR:3.81 (1.51, 9.66)], mixed feeding practice from birth to six months [AOR: 7.62 (2.97, 19.55)], having upper respiratory tract infection in the last 2 weeks for the child [AOR: 5.33 (2.16, 13.19)] and children with history of co- residence with URTI family [AOR: 6.17 (2.36,16.15)] were found to be determinants of pneumonia. CONCLUSIONS: The main contributing factors for pneumonia in this study are preventable with no or minimal cost. Therefore, we recommend appropriate and adequate health education regarding pneumonia prevention and control.

Prevalence of diarrhea and associated factors among under-five children in Bahir Dar city, Northwest Ethiopia, 2016: a cross-sectional study.

BACKGROUND: In Ethiopia, morbidity and mortality due to diarrhea is significantly high. Most importantly, burden of diarrhea is disproportionately high among under-five children. Therefore, the objective of this study was to assess the prevalence and factors associated with diarrhea among children younger than 5 years old in Bahir Dar city, Northwest, Ethiopia, 2016. METHODS: This community-based cross-sectional study was conducted among under-five years-old children from March 24 to April 12, 2016. Systematic sampling technique was used to select 498 households. Data were collected by using an interviewer administered questionnaire. Both bivariate and multivariate logistic regression analyses were employed to identify predictor variables. Factors with a p-value of < 0.05 were considered as independently associated with diarrhea. RESULTS: The 2 weeks prevalence of diarrhea among under five children was 14.5%. Lack of hand washing facilities in the household (AOR = 3.910 (1.770, 8.634)), lack of separate feeding materials (AOR = 5.769 (1.591, 9.220)), poor hand washing practice (AOR = 6.104 (2.100, 17.738)) and not breastfeeding (AOR = 2.3 (1.023, 5.46)) were predictors of the concurrence of diarrhea. CONCLUSIONS: The prevalence of diarrhea in the study area was slightly higher than the 2016, Ethiopian Demography and Health Survey finding which was 12%. Thus, improving handwashing facilities and practices, serving the food to the child with a separate materials and encourage optimal breastfeeding were recommended.

Prevalence and associated factors of hypertension among adult patients in Felege-Hiwot Comprehensive Referral Hospitals, northwest, Ethiopia: a cross-sectional study.

OBJECTIVE: The main objective of this study was to assess the prevalence and factors associated with hypertension among adult patients in Felege-Hiwot Comprehensive Referral Hospital, northwest Ethiopia, 2018. RESULT: The prevalence of hypertension in the current study area was 27.3%. Known history of cardiac problems [AOR = 6.9; 95% CI (1.24, 11.44)], alcohol consumption [AOR = 2.2; 95% CI (1.04, 5.05)], abdominal obesity [AOR = 2.3; 95% CI (1.02, 5.04)], and obesity [AOR = 4.8; 95% CI (1.12, 8.34)] were factors associated independently with hypertension.

Determinants of Nursing Process Implementation in North East Ethiopia: Cross-Sectional Study.

Nursing process is a framework used to provide an effective, coordinated, and organized quality care for patients. Effective implementation of this framework leads to improved quality of care and decreases potential complication, hospital length of stay, and the cost of care. To assess implementation of nursing process and its hindering factors, a quantitative cross-sectional study was conducted among nurses in Afar region hospitals from October 2016 to December 2016. The data were collected from 102 nurses using primary Brooking's ward nurses' self-report questionnaire and with some newly prepared questions. The collected data were entered using Epi-Data version 3.1 and analyzed by SPSS version 20 and then presented by tables, graphs, and figures. Forty-three (42.1%) nurses were implementing nursing process at the time of data collection. Assessment and diagnosis were carried out by 57 (56.9%) nurses, planning by 46% of nurses, implementation by 38.2% of nurses, and evaluation by 36.2% of nurses in Afar region. Among the hindering factors towards nursing process implementation, lack of preparedness or knowledge about the nursing process or some part of it (83.3%) and absence of in-service training pertinent to nursing process (75.5%) were the most mentioned ones. Generally, nursing process was poorly implemented in Afar region mainly due to lack of knowledge and absence of in service training. Therefore, giving emphasis for cognitive parts of students about nursing process during their school time and refreshing nurse staffs with continuous training will definitively improve level of nursing process implementation.