Social and behavior change communication competency among front-line healthcare system actors in Ethiopia: a cross-sectional study.

INTRODUCTION: Social and Behavior Change Communication (SBCC) plays a critical role in improving behavior and health outcomes across the continuum of healthcare. Failing to implement tailored SBCC strategies continues to pose a risk of ill health, increase disease burden, and impact the quality life of people. In Ethiopia, front-line healthcare system actors' knowledge and skills about SBCC have not been rigorously assessed. Thus, the current study aimed to assess healthcare system actors' competencies in designing, implementing, monitoring, and evaluating SBCC interventions in Ethiopia. METHODS: A cross-sectional study was conducted between 01 August and 31 October, 2020. Five hundred twenty-eight frontline healthcare system actors in SBCC in Ethiopia were included using simple random sampling technique. Data was collected using a self-administered structured questionnaire adopted from Communication for Change; SBCC capacity assessment tool. Descriptive analysis frequencies, percentages, mean, median, standard deviation (SD), interquartile range (IQR) were employed. Besides correlations and linear regression with robust standard errors were carried out. A 95% confidence interval and a p-value of less than 0.05 were used to declare significant statistical association. RESULTS: A total of 488 frontline workers participated in the study, with a response rate of 92.4%. The mean SBCC knowledge score was 13.2 ± standard deviation (SD) 3.99 and 59.2% scored below 60% of the expected maximum score. The standard mean score of overall skill in SBCC intervention was 2.36 (SD ± 0.98) and 52.6% of them scored below mean score. The SBCC knowledge was significantly predicted by the service year and the regional variation. On the other hand, SBCC skills was significantly predicted by sex, service year, profession, regional variation, and SBCC knowledge. The regional variation was the main predictor of both knowledge and skill on SBCC. The regression models explained 23.1% and 50.2% of the variance in knowledge and skill of SBCC, respectively. CONCLUSION: Front-line healthcare system actors in Ethiopia has low knowledge and skills in SBCC. Variations in SBCC knowledge and skill were observed based on demographic and professionals experience related characteristics. Hence, continuous capacity building activities need to be given to frontline healthcare system actors to enhance their knowledge and skill on SBCC program and achieve the intended health results.

Structural congenital anomalies in resource limited setting, 2023: A systematic review and meta-analysis.

BACKGROUND: A number of studies have looked at neonatal structural birth defects. However, there is no study with a comprehensive review of structural anomalies. Therefor we aimed to verify the best available articles to pool possible risk factors of structural congenital anomalies in resource limited settings. SETTING: Genuine search of the research articles was done via PubMed, Scopes, Cochrane library, the Web of Science; free Google database search engines, Google Scholar, and Science Direct databases. Published and unpublished articles were searched and screened for inclusion in the final analysis and Studies without sound methodologies, and review and meta-analysis were not included in this analysis. PARTICIPANTS: This review analyzed data from 95,755 women who have birthed from as reported by primary studies. Ten articles were included in this systematic review and meta-analysis. Articles which have no full information important for the analysis and case reports were excluded from the study. RESULTS: The overall pooled effect estimate of structural congenital anomalies was 5.50 [4.88-6.12]. In this systematic review and meta-analysis maternal illness effect estimate (EI) with odds ratio (OR) = 4.93 (95%CI 1.02-8.85), unidentified drug use OR = 2.83 (95%CI 1.19-4.46), birth weight OR = 4.20 (95%CI 2.12-6.28), chewing chat OR = 3.73 (95%CI 1.20-6.30), chemical exposure OR = 4.27 (95%CI 1.19-8.44) and taking folic acid tablet during pregnancy OR = 6.01 (95%CI 2.87-14.89) were statistically significant in this meta-regression. CONCLUSIONS: The overall pooled effect estimate of structural congenital anomalies in a resource limited setting was high compared to better resource countries. On the Meta-regression maternal illness, unidentified drug use, birth weight, chewing chat, chemical exposure and never using folic acid were found to be statistically significant variables Preconception care and adequate intake of folic acid before and during early pregnancy should be advised.

Do pregnant African women exercise? A meta-analysis.

INTRODUCTION: Antenatal exercise can reduce gestational weight gain, backache; pregnancy induced medical disorders, caesarean section rates, and improves pregnancy outcomes. American College of Obstetrics and Gynecology (ACOG) recommends prenatal exercise, which is associated with minimal risk and has been shown to be beneficial for pregnancy outcomes, although some exercise routines may need to be modified. Consequently, this meta-analysis is intended to verify the pooled practice of antenatal exercise in Africa using available primary articles. METHODS: Genuine search of the research articles was done via PubMed, Scopes, Cochrane library, the Web of Science; free Google databases search engines, Google Scholar, and Science Direct databases. Published and unpublished articles were searched and screened for inclusion in the final analysis and Studies without sound methodologies, and review and meta-analysis were not included in this analysis. The Newcastle-Ottawa scale was used to assess the risk of bias. If heterogeneity exceeded 40%, the random effect method was used; otherwise, the fixed-effect method was used. Meta-analysis was conducted using STATA version 14.0 software. Publication bias was checked by funnel plot and Egger test. RESULTS: This review analyzed data from 2880 women on antenatal care contact from different primary studies. The overall pooled effect estimate of antenatal exercise in Africa was 34.50(32.63-36.37). In the subgroup analysis for pooled antenatal exercise practice by country, it was 34.24 (31.41-37.08) in Ethiopia and 37.64(34.63-40.65) in Nigeria. CONCLUSION: The overall pooled effect estimate of antenatal exercise in Africa was low compared to other continent. As it was recommended by ACOG antenatal exercise to every patient in the absence of contraindications, it should be encouraged by professionals providing antenatal care service.