The unbroken chain of female genital mutilation: a qualitative assessment of high school girls' perspectives.

BACKGROUND: Female Genital Mutilation (FGM) is defined as any procedure that involves damage to the female external genitalia. This practice is majorly prevalent in Sudan, as it is estimated that over 12 million Sudanese women are circumcised. This study uncovers rural females' knowledge and insights about FGM domestically. METHODS: A qualitative, deductive study with thematic analysis was conducted. A total of 42 female high school students were recruited and divided into five focus groups, each of which included girls from four different high school classes in the main school of the study area. A topic guide was prepared and used to lead the focus groups. Thematic analysis was used, and the study data had been categorized into four themes: knowledge, procedure and performance, experience, and practice. The condensed meaning units of each theme were identified, then classified to formulate sub-themes. RESULTS: All the participants indicated that FGM is a traditional practice in the village. The vast majority have heard about it from family members, mainly mothers and grandmothers. Regarding the procedure, all the participants agreed that midwives perform FGM, but most of them don't know what exactly is being removed. According to all participants, mothers and grandmothers are the decision-makers for FGM. The majority of the participants stated that they do not discriminate between the circumcised and uncircumcised women and most of them agreed that circumcision has negative side effects. They have mentioned pain, difficult urination, and walking as early side effects, while psychological impacts and labor obstruction as late ones. Generally, the majority of the participants agreed that circumcision is not beneficial and should stop. CONCLUSION: Knowledge regarding the dangers of FGM among high school girls is better than expected given the high prevalence of the practice. Generally, the process is well understood, the performers are known, the experience is universal, and the side effects are acknowledged. Nevertheless, a majority still showed an intent to circumcise their daughters in the future.

Readiness of managers and health care workers for e-Health: a cross-sectional study in Khartoum primary health care centers, Sudan.

BACKGROUND: e-Health is defined as "the use, in the health sector, of digital data- transmitted, stored and retrieved electronically-for clinical, educational and administrative purposes, both at the local site and at a distance". In Primary health care (PHC), the role of e-Health in promoting PHC systems defines its need to achieve the PHC aims. This literary work aims to study the readiness of managers and healthcare workers for e-Health at Khartoum state PHC centers. METHODS: This was a facility-based cross-sectional study that took place between February and August 2022. A sample size of 327 was calculated, and multistage cluster sampling was used. A validated questionnaire was used, and the generated data were analyzed using the Statistical Package for Social Sciences (SPSS). Variables were described as n (%) and mean ± SD. Non-parametric tests and Spearman's correlation were used to investigate the association of readiness scores with different categorical and numerical variables, respectively. A standard multiple regression model was used to model the associations. RESULTS: A total of 262 forms were completed. The overall readiness percentages were low for both managers (52.8%) and healthcare workers (55.3%). Factors associated with e-Health readiness included occupation, doctors' level of expertise, PHC center, and PHC center type. CONCLUSIONS: This study reports low levels of e-Health readiness as reflected by managers and HCWs in Khartoum State PHC. Project planners need to be aware of the obstacles and threats faced by e-Health initiatives if they are not carefully planned, executed, and monitored. Special attention must be given to addressing health inequities and inequalities to ensure that these projects will contribute to fostering accessibility to health services and narrowing the digital divide.

Educational environment and its relation to academic performance as perceived by medical students in University of Khartoum. A cross Sectional Study, Sudan, 2020.

This article was migrated. The article was marked as recommended. Purpose: to assess students' perception of educational environment and to evaluate the difference in perception related to academic performance and demographic characteristics in the Faculty of Medicine, University of Khartoum, 2020. Method: The authors performed an observational analytical cross-sectional study at the Faculty of Medicine, University of Khartoum, using a validated structured closed-ended self -administered questionnaire; the Dundee Ready Educational environment measurement (DREEM). They included all students registered in the faculty for the academic year 2020-2021 except the first semester students. They used proportionate stratified sampling to divide students into strata and sub-strata based on batch number and sex, respectively. Then, they selected students proportionately from each substrata using simple random sampling. Results: out of 405 randomly selected students, 341 (84.2%) filled the questionnaire. The mean total DREEM score was (104.48/200), indicating a positive perception of the learning environment. This, with only student's perception of atmosphere subscale showing negative results. Test results showed a significant difference between different student's age groups, academic phases and batches in regards to their perception of atmosphere (p-value 0.023, 0.001, 0.013 respectively). Regarding residence, a significant difference was found in total DREEM scores, with students residing in university dormitories having a more positive perception. Test results showed no significant difference in student's perception of educational environment in all DREEM subscales between achievers and underachievers. Conclusion: although the overall perception of educational environment was more positive than negative, the study highlighted various areas needing special attention. Theauthors believe that both faculty administration and students must work together to deliver tangible improvement in all aspects of educational environment.