Measures of Maternal Socioeconomic Status in Yemen and Association with Maternal and Child Health Outcomes.

BACKGROUND: Reliable measurement of socioeconomic status (SES) in health research requires extensive resources and can be challenging in low-income countries. We aimed to develop a set of maternal SES indices and investigate their associations with maternal and child health outcomes in rural Yemen. METHODS: We applied factor analysis based on principal component analysis extraction to construct the SES indices by capturing household attributes for 7295 women of reproductive age. Data were collected from a sub-national household survey conducted in six rural districts in four Yemeni provinces in 2008-2009. Logistic regression models were fitted to estimate the associations between the SES indices and maternal mortality, spontaneous abortion, stillbirth, neonatal and infant mortality. RESULTS: Three SES indices (wealth, educational and housing quality) were extracted, which together explained 54 % of the total variation in SES. Factor scores were derived and categorized into tertiles. After adjusting for potential confounding factors, higher tertiles of all the indices were inversely associated with spontaneous abortion. Higher tertiles of wealth and educational indices were inversely associated with stillbirth, neonatal and infant mortality. None of the SES indices was strongly associated with maternal mortality. CONCLUSION: By subjecting a number of household attributes to factor analysis, we derived three SES indices (wealth, educational, and housing quality) that are useful for maternal and child health research in rural Yemen. The indices were worthwhile in predicting a number of maternal and child health outcomes. In low-income settings, failure to account for the multidimensionality of SES may underestimate the influence of SES on maternal and child health.

Safety and tolerability of moxifloxacin for the treatment of disseminated BCGitis in children.

BACKGROUND AND OBJECTIVE: Disseminated BCGitis is a rare but serious complication of BCG vaccine in patients with underlying primary immunodeficiency. Fluoroquinolone antibiotics containing antimycobacterial regimen have been considered in the treatment of disseminated BCGitis, but there are limited data about the dosing, safety, and tolerability of fluoroquinolone such as moxifloxacin in children. The aim of this study was to report the experience with the dosing, safety, and tolerability of moxifloxacin in children with disseminated BCGitis. METHOD: This retrospective descriptive study included children who had been diagnosed with disseminated BCGitis and treated with an antimycobacterial regimen including moxifloxacin for more than two weeks from 2007 to 2017 at King Faisal Specialist Hospital and Research Centre, Riyadh, Saudi Arabia. RESULT: Ten children were included: six (60.0%) were male and four (40.0%) were female. The primary diagnosis for five patients was Mendelian susceptibility to mycobacterial diseases (MSMD), four patients were diagnosed with severe combined immune deficiency (SCID), and the remaining patient had human immunodeficiency virus (HIV) infection. The overall mean duration of moxifloxacin treatment was 10.1 months. Liver toxicity was recorded in three patients. The most common medications used with moxifloxacin were ethambutol and clarithromycin. Moxifloxacin serum concentration level was determined in 5 patients. No musculoskeletal side effects were reported while the patient was on moxifloxacin. The treated patients showed a different response to an antimycobacterial regimen including moxifloxacin, with mortality in two patients. CONCLUSION: Our study suggests that moxifloxacin is generally tolerated in children and might be considered in disseminated BCGitis cases. Additionally, paying attention to side effects such as liver toxicity is recommended, particularly with the use of other antimycobacterial antibiotics, which could also be hepatotoxic. A moxifloxacin-containing regimen for disseminated BCGitis showed clinical improvement in some patients in this study, although the majority presented the same clinical condition.

Factors associated with female genital cutting in Yemen and its policy implications.

BACKGROUND: A tremendous number of girls in Yemen are still subjected to female genital cutting (FGC), which carries an increased risk of health complications and violates children's rights. This study describes the prevalence of FGC in four Yemeni provinces and investigates the determinants of FGC. METHODS: We analyzed data from women aged 15 to 49 years who responded to a sub-national household survey conducted in six rural districts of four Yemeni provinces in 2008-2009. Logistic regression was used to estimate the association between individual and household socioeconomic factors and FGC practices and attitudes. RESULTS: The prevalence of women's FGC was 48% while daughters' FGC was 34%. Almost 45.8% of the women surveyed believe the FGC practice should discontinue. Higher odds of FGC practice and positive attitude towards it were associated with older age, family marriage, and lower tertiles of wealth and education indices. Early marriage was also associated with increased odds of FGC practice (p < 0.01). CONCLUSIONS: Socioeconomic indices and other individual factors associated with FGC are differing and complex. Younger generations of women are more likely to not have FGC and to express negative attitudes towards the tradition. Appropriate strategies to invest in girls' education and women's empowerment with effective engagement of religious and community leaders might support the change of attitudes and practice of FGC in the younger generation.

Using Household Socioeconomic Indicators to Predict the Utilization of Maternal and Child Health Services Among Reproductive-Aged Women in Rural Yemen.

Using principal component analysis (PCA) and integrating both individual and household factors, we had previously derived and proposed 3 socioeconomic indices (namely, wealth index, educational index, and housing quality index) that can be used to classify rural Yemeni women into different socioeconomic statuses (SES). In the current article, we examined whether the PCA-derived indices can be used to predict the use of maternal and child health care services in rural Yemen. We used data from subnational representative multistage sampling cross-sectional household survey conducted in rural Yemen in 2008-2009 among women (N = 6907) who had given birth. The resulting component scores for each SES index were divided into tertiles. Logistic regression was used to study the associations between the SES indices and 4 indicators of maternal health care use. Higher tertiles of each socioeconomic index increased the likelihood of adequate antenatal care use, delivery assistance, and contraceptive use, but decreased the likelihood of unmet need for contraception. Key maternal health indicators can be determined by socioeconomic indicators. Therefore, in planning maternal and child health interventions, considering disparities of care by socioeconomic factors should be taken into account.