Magnitude and associated factors of cutaneous leishmaniasis among patients visiting Nefas Mewcha primary hospital, Northern Ethiopia, 2022: An institution-based Cross-sectional study.

BACKGROUND: Cutaneous leishmaniasis (CL) is the most common neglected tropical disease, causing stigmatised skin lesions. It is an important public health concern, with 95% of cases occurring in low-income and middle-income countries. Despite its long-recognized endemicity and psychosocial impacts, it is largely overlooked. OBJECTIVE: The main aim of this study is to investigate the magnitude and associated factors of CL in north-central Ethiopia. DESIGN: An institution-based cross-sectional study was conducted. SETTING: The study was conducted in Nefas Mewcha Primary Hospital (NMPH), north-central Ethiopia. PARTICIPANTS: The study was conducted among 332 individuals visiting NMPH from June to July 2022. PRIMARY AND SECONDARY OUTCOMES: The primary outcome was to estimate the burden of CL among patients visiting NMPH, and the secondary outcome was to identify factors associated with the presence or absence of CL. The association between predictor variables and CL was assessed using a binary logistic regression model. Statistical significance was declared at a p _value of <0.05. RESULT: Out of the 332 study participants, 63 patients sought medical care with skin lesions, and 61 (18.37%, 95% CI: 14.5% to 22.9%) were patients with CL. Localized CL was the predominant type (86.9%). Male sex (adjusted OR (AOR): 4.51; 95% CI 1.94 to 10.45), older age (AOR 0.91, 95% CI: 0.87 to 0.94), secondary and tertiary educational status (AOR: 0.18, 95% CI: 0.05 to 0.6), poor knowledge of CL (AOR: 4.02, 95% CI: 1.81 to 9.76) and living with domestic animals (AOR: 5.29, 95% CI 3.24 to 7.5) were identified as predictors of CL. CONCLUSION: In the study area, the magnitude of CL was found to be high. Being male and young, having low educational status, having poor knowledge and living with domestic animals increase the risk of acquiring CL. As a result, increasing the knowledge of the community through scaling up of health education programmes and reducing activities that increase individuals' exposure to sandflies should be prioritised.

Undernutrition and associated factors among older adults in Ethiopia: systematic review and meta-analysis.

OBJECTIVE: Undernutrition contributes to decreased physical and cognitive functional status, higher healthcare consumption, premature institutionalisation and increased mortality. So, the objective of this study was to determine the pooled prevalence and factors associated with undernutrition among older adults in Ethiopia. DESIGN: Systematic review and meta-analysis was used. Articles that presented original data on undernutrition using body mass index (BMI) were included. We made an inclusive literature search from PubMed, Medline and Google Scholar. The I2 test was used to examine the heterogeneity of the studies considered in this meta-analysis. Stata software V.14 and METANDI command were used. SETTING: Studies conducted in Ethiopia were included. PARTICIPANTS: Eight independent studies were eligible and enrolled for final analysis. OUTCOME: Prevalence and determinants of undernutrition. A selection of publications, data extraction and reported results for the review was designed according to the Preferred Reporting Items for Systematic Reviews and Meta-Analyses (PRISMA) guidelines. RESULTS: A total of eight unique studies were enrolled for final analysis. The pooled prevalence of undernutrition was 20.53% (95% CI 17.39% to 23.67%). The study revealed that males had lesser odds of being undernutrition with AOR 0.17 (95% CI 0.15 to 0.20). Older adults in the age range of 65-74 years were less likely to be undernourished as compared with those whose age was above 85 years with Adjusted Odds Ratio (AOR) 022 (95% CI 0.22 to 0.25). Older adults who were depressed had higher odds of undernutrition as compared with their counterparts with AOR 1.27 (95% CI 1.19 to 1.37). However, older adults from households with poor wealth indexes were two times more likely to be undernourished as compared with those who were from rich households. CONCLUSION: The burden of undernutrition in Ethiopia is significant. The limitation of the current study was that all included studies were observational, mainly cross-sectional.