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Oct 2022 DOI 10.14302/issn.2641-4538.jphi-22-4329
Adejoh Attah TimothyCorresponding author
National Space Research and Development Agency, Obasanjo Space Centre, Umaru Musa Ydar'adua express way, P.M.B. 437, Lugbe, Abuja
Introduction Malaria in pregnancy is a serious public health concern that could result in detrimental health outcomes for pregnant women and their foetuses. In Nigeria, there is still a significant risk of the disease epidemic and adverse effects especially in pregnancy. The aim of this study is to assess the socio-demographic factors associated with Intermittent Preventive Treatment and health seeking behaviours for malaria in pregnancy among women of reproductive ages in Nigeria Methods Using the National Demographic Survey (NDHS) 2018 data, a cross sectional study was conducted to assess socio-demographic factors associated with Intermittent Preventive Treatment (IPT) for Malaria among Nigerian women of reproductive ages. Result Majority were between ages 30-39 years (39.5%), married/cohabiting (91.8%), Muslims (59.5%), from the north (68.9%), uneducated ( 49.9%), poor (47.5%), and grand parous (65.7%). 63.4% of the women had taken fansidar for malaria in pregnancy while only 6.1% had received healthcare for malaria from informal sources. Except for marital status, all socio-demographic variables (regions, highest educational level, wealth index, age group, religion and parity) were significantly associated with intake of IPT. Additionally, region, education, wealth index, age group, marital status and religion were associated with health seeking behaviour for malaria in pregnancy (P<.05). After control for other variables, wealth index, highest educational level, married/cohabiting marital status and religion was significantly associated with intake of IPT while region, primary and secondary education, poorer and richest wealth index, widowed/separation influenced health seeking for malaria in pregnancy (P<.05). Conclusion The National Malaria Elimination programme should evaluate existing policies that develop interventions that are centred on high risk population in order to prevent malaria in pregnancy while improving health seeking behaviours of women of reproductive ages.
Sep 2020 DOI 10.14302/issn.2693-1176.ijgh-20-3545
Ezinna E EnwerejiCorresponding author
Department of Public Health, College of Medicine, Abia State University, Uturu, Nigeria
Public health professionals working in rural communities are aware of the health disparities which result from lack of physicians, limited services, and income during the pandemic. Also they are aware that some populations are more vulnerable than others. People in the rural areas are experiencing problems on their physical, social and economic life styles because the pandemic is exacerbating some inequities. Individuals especially women and children in the rural areas are facing barriers in accessing health care services due to lack of resources and availability of health care providers in the communities. With COVID-19, women are less likely to seek services, including sexual and reproductive health services. Such services may be postponed to limit exposure to COVID-19 infection. This is particularly disturbing because in addition to the women maintaining their own health, they are also responsible for taking care of the mental, emotional and physical health needs of their families as well as all domestic responsibilities. As such, women in rural settings face special challenges as a result of these significant roles they play. Therefore, the impacts of COVID-19 are exacerbated on women by virtue of their sex and the roles they play in the family. This is a qualitative study that reviewed the reports of the 36 health care professionals under the aegis of members of COVID-19 committee working in partnership with state government to control, prevent and cushion the effects of COVID-19 in the society. This study is therefore, a summary of the observations of the COVID-19 committee members made up of 10(27.8%) females and 26(72.2%) males. The study focused on exploring how individual lifestyles in the rural areas have been affected in the face of COVID- 19 pandemic by identifying the vulnerabilities in social, political and economic systems which can amplify the impacts of the pandemic. Findings showed that preventive measures like lockdown and social distancing rules, wearing of face mask, hand washing with soap, and environmental cleanliness were not observed. The study noted that health seeking behaviours, sexual and marital life including income, education, employment and social interactions were all negatively affected. Most hospitals were battered and health care professionals boycotted the hospitals for fear of being infected. It was found that lack of health workers in the hospitals caused a good number of individuals to engage in self-medications. Also most pregnant women delivered their babies at home and few with traditional birth attendants. Some of the women who had deliveries at home experienced complications during and after delivery. Unfortunately, the report showed that governments’ financial supports to these women and their family members were insignificant as the government was more concerned with mitigating the spread of COVID-19 than assisting women to have safe deliveries. Therefore, the vulnerable groups especially women, children, and the elderly who experienced threats to their safety and wellbeing as a result of the services that were disrupted during the pandemic, should be assisted so as not to lose their lives to preventable diseases.
May 2020 DOI 10.14302/issn.2641-4538.jphi-20-3324
Rutayisire ErigeneCorresponding author
Department of public Health, Mount Kenya University Rwanda Kigali Rwanda
Knowledge of tuberculosis has been shown to influence health seeking behaviour. The study aim was to assess knowledge of tuberculosis and identify the associated factors. This study was a cross sectional descriptive research design with quantitative approach. The target population was the TB patients visited health facilities in Gakenke District. A sample of 376 TB patients was randomly selected from three health centers. Interview-administrated structured questionnaire was used to collect data from 376 TB patients. Data was analyzed with SPSS-version 22. The study protocol was approved by Mount Kenya University Rwanda. The majority of respondents 71.0% were male, 51.6% were aged 45 years and above, 81.9% were married, and 65.2% had completed primary education. Few respondents identified a germ as the cause of TB (24.7%). This study revealed that 54.3% of TB patients had good knowledge about TB. The findings from multivariate analysis show that male were three times more likely to have good knowledge about TB compared to female (AOR=3.31, 95%CI: 1.98-5.53, p<0.001). Compared to TB patients aged 45 years and above, respondents aged 25-34 years old were more likely to have good knowledge about TB (AOR=38.71, 95%CI: 9.22-162.48, p<0.001). TB patients who live between 2-5 km from nearest health facility were more likely to have good knowledge about TB compared to those who live at more than 5 km (AOR=33.58, 95%CI: 14.95-74.40, p<0.001). The ministry of health and other stakeholders in health sector need to continue the interventions that aim to reduce TB infection.