ABSTRACT Background: Pneumonia is a form of acute respiratory infection. The epidemiology of childhood pneumonia is due to various risk factors such as malnutrition, substandard breastfeeding, exposure to biomass fuel for cooking and parental smoking and needs further investigation. Objective: The aim of the study was to examine the relationship between pneumonia and nutritional status in children under five at Princess Marie Louise Children’s hospital. Method: An unmatched case-control d...
ABSTRACT Improving maternal health is a key concern of the international community due to the unacceptably high maternal mortality rate. Invariably several studies have identified induced unsafe abortions as a major contributory factor to these maternal deaths. Contraceptive use, a cheap and effective preventive method of unplanned pregnancies is rather low. Ghana and for that matter, Kumasi is no exception to the rule of a high incidence of induced abortions and its attendant public health ...
ABSTRACT Childhood and adolescent overweight and obesity is a major global concern in the public health sector. Overweight, as well as obesity occurs when the rate of metabolism of calories in the body is less than the rate of caloric intake. This condition is likely to continue into adulthood if not addressed. The prevalence and conditions that determine childhood and adolescent obesity have not been widely studied in children and adolescents between the age of 5 and 17 years in Ghana. Knowi...
ABSTRACT Background With improved survival after the introduction of highly active antiretroviral therapy (HAART), non-AIDS-related morbidity and mortality have come to the forefront in the management of HIV patients. HAART has been linked to the development of several risks factors for cardiovascular disease including insulin resistance and hyperlipidemia, but its influence on hypertensIon requires further study. The general objective of this study was to determine the prevalence of hyperte...
ABSTRACT Introduction: Medication literacy is the degree to which individuals can acquire, understand, disclose, calculate and process information that is specific to their medication to make informed medication and health related decisions in order to use their medications cautiously and adequately. A low level of medication literacy puts the patient at risk of complications such as medication errors which leads to morbidity and mortality. Medication literacy influences patients adherence to...
ABSTRACT Background: Studies have shown that large numbers of women around the world experience maltreatment during pregnancy and childbirth. To date, however, there has been few quantitative estimates of the prevalence of maltreatment of women during facility-based childbirth in Ghana. The objective of this study was to examine maltreatment of women by healthcare providers in Tema General Hospital during childbirth. Methods: The study was a cross-sectional in design using quantitative tools ...
ABSTRACT Background: Hepatitis B disease is a major threat to public health and its chronic carriers constitute about 5% of the world’s population. Some regions of Africa and the Middle East have a disproportionately higher carrier rate of 10% and 15% respectively. The risk of developing chronic hepatitis B is 95% for infections acquired during the perinatal period compared with 5% for those who acquired during adulthood and a pooled prevalence of hepatitis B infection among pregnant women...
ABSTRACT BACKGROUND Mortality among children less than five years is a major public health problem in the developing world which includes sub-Sahara Africa. To develop an appropriate public health intervention, adequate knowledge in the trend and spatial distribution of mortality is required to enable in proper planning and execution of interventions. OBJECTIVE This study analysed the trend and Spatial distribution and clustering of facility-based Under-five mortality from 2013 to 2017 in th...
ABSTRACT Introduction Non-adherence to hypertension medications is a major cause of uncontrolled blood pressure which increases the risk of patients to develop complications. Good health provider and patient relationship is an important indicator of effective health care service delivery which can influence patients' adherence to medications. Little information is a ailable on adherence to treatment among patients attending primary health care clinics such in district hospital and health prov...
ABSTRACT Background: Family planning utilization can significantly improve maternal health and reduce maternal mortality. Research have shown that women who have access to better family planning services are more likely to use contraception, are less likely to have unintended pregnancies, and thus have fewer abortions as well as promote gender equality, educational and economic empowerment for women. The objective of this study was to examine the barriers to family planning use among married...
ABSTRACT The recent decades have seen a sharp increase in the labor force participation of mothers with young children throughout their childrearing. The World Health Organization (WHO) recommends 6 months of exclusive breastfeeding starting from birth with the establishment of early breastfeeding within 30 minutes after delivery. The benefits of exclusive breastfeeding are shown by numerous studies and include both maternal and infant outcomes. Health workers are in general the first advoca...
ABSTRACT Background: Hypertension or high blood pressure is a major cause of cardiovascular diseases and premature death among adults in the world. In Ghana, it is common knowledge that most people do not consider hypertension a serious health condition, and therefore do not constantly monitor it. Hypertension is commonly known as the “silent killer”. Objective: The aim of this study was to determine the prevalence and risk factors associated with hypertension among health workers in Kor...
ABSTRACT Background Family caregivers play a very important role in the management of severe mental disorders in children which has a huge economic burden on the family and the caregivers. This study aimed to estimate the economic burden of caring for children with mental disorders attending Psychiatric hospitals in Ghana. Method The study adopted the Cost of Illness Analysis Approach in estimating economic burden. The 12- item Zarit Burden Interview and EUROHIS-QOL (WHO-8) were used to ass...
ABSTRACT Background: Tuberculosis in children has historically been neglected by clinicians, policy makers, academics, and advocates due to several factors though it is significant contributor to child morbidity and mortality. In Ghana, the proportion of notified childhood TB cases among all cases gradually declined from about 6% in 2010 to 5% in 2015 after a steadily rising trend from 2.4% in 2008 to 5.9% in 2010 in spite of various interventions rolled out, with the expected figure pegged ...
ABSTRACT Background: Adverse drug reactions (ADRs) are a significant cause of mortality and morbidity across the globe. Spontaneous reporting systems are the commonest means of reporting adverse drug reactions with the overall aim of protecting patients from the harmful effects of medications. ADR reporting is however low among healthcare professionals due to several factors. A large number of Ghanaians often visit community pharmacies as the first point of call to access healthcare; however...